KOTA KINABALU: Low cost carrier, AirAsia, is here to stay, its chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, said yesterday.
His statement refuted earlier claim that AirAsia would cease operations in Sabah should the airline be forced to move to Terminal 1 of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
“Following my recent press conference held in Kota Kinabalu and a recent report claiming I had threatened to pull out AirAsia routes to Sabah, I would like to clarify that it was never the case, and it is not my style.
“I have also been accused of being arrogant for such statements. I would like to put the record straight — I have always been very committed to developing Sabah as a hub.
“We have a very strong relationship with Sabah tourism, and we are constantly engaging with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, the Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun and Sabah Tourism Board general manager Datuk Irene Charuruks to further explore growth opportunities for Sabah for the past 13 years; Sabah remains key to me and also a very important hub for AirAsia,” he told reporters in Sepang.
He reiterated his point that it is critical for AirAsia to remain in Terminal 2 at Tanjung Aru where the passenger service charge (PSC) is RM32.
“If we are forced to move to Terminal 1 where the PSC is significantly higher at RM65, it will affect our ability to offer low fares and in turn cause diminishing demand from the public, lowering passenger traffic into the state.
“We appeal to the mass market where RM30 makes a huge difference in their decision to fly or not. A large number of our passengers travel as families, so paying the higher passenger service charge would be a burden to them,” he said.
Fernandes added that if demand drops due to the increase, it will make the routes unprofitable which will result in the possibility of route suspensions.
“This is the reason I am pushing Malaysia Airports, the Sabah Government, and the Federal Government to either make Terminal 2 an LCC terminal or build a new low cost terminal,” he stressed.
He said that Sabah is one of the reasons AirAsia exists and “we will never abandon Sabah.” But the harsh reality is, no one will want to fly with rising costs.
“People who know me know that I have zero arrogance and I am very open for discussions.”
According to Fernandes, AirAsia has great plans for Sabah and the airline had invested greatly in developing new routes out of the state and adding more flight frequencies for the benefit of tourism in Sabah.
“We also have plans to have AirAsia X to be based in Sabah, for us to better contribute to higher passenger arrivals into the state and help create jobs and economic development.
“We are committed to developing Sabah, especially KKIA as one of our major hubs in Malaysia. We are not planning to leave but instead look forward to more expansion in Sabah,” said Fernandes.