The AirAsia Group received the highest number of approvals with 26 allocations, followed by Malindo Air with 15 allocations. — Bernama photo
KUCHING: The AirAsia Group received the highest number of approvals from the Malaysian Aviation Commission’s (Mavcom) allocation of air traffic rights (ATR) to Malaysia’s local carriers for the period of January 1 to March 31, 2019.
According to Mavcom’s executive chairman Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, the commission is cognisant that a fundamental aspect of turning Malaysia’s aviation sector into one that is more robust is by ensuring that it is regulated in a fair, consistent and transparent manner.
“In line with this and as part of the Commission’s overall commitment as the economic and commercial regulator for the sector, we have been releasing ATR allocation details on a monthly basis on our website,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“This update for the first quarter of the year will serve to provide the industry with a consolidated analysis of ATR allocations during the period under review.”
A full 100 per cent of ATR applications by Malaysia’s local carriers for the period were approved by Mavcom, with 53 allocations in total.
Of these, 52 ATR applications were approved in full while one application was approved partially. The AirAsia Group received the highest number of approvals with 26 allocations, followed by Malindo Air with 15 allocations.
Of the 53 applications, 32.1 per cent were for domestic routes while 67.9 per cent was for international routes. Mavcom approved ATRs for 17 domestic routes, 13 for routes to Asean destinations, 11 for destinations in China, two for destinations in India, five for destinations in Australasia and five for other Asian destinations.
Breaking down the numbers further, a total of 26 international ATR were issued for flights originating from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, three for Kota Kinabalu International Airport, one each for Penang International Airport and Senai International Airport and five for other airports in Malaysia.
In addition, 20 ATR that were previously approved by MAVCOM were not utilised by the ATR recipient and were returned to the Commission during the period of 1 January to 31 March 2019. The highest number of unused ATR returned to the Commission was from the AirAsia Group with 13, followed by Malindo Air with five.
As reference, for the year 2018, a total of 205 ATR were issued. AirAsia Group was recorded as the highest recipient with 98 ATR allocated, followed by Malindo Air with 52.
“In allocating ATR, the Commission undertakes a thorough analysis, taking into consideration multiple aspects in order to facilitate orderly growth, competition and consumer choice over the long term as well as the prevention of consumer inconvenience,” concluded Nungsari.