MAVCOM has brought an end to hidden charges in air tickets. File Photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Beginning tomorrow, airline passengers will no longer have to worry about hidden charges in their air tickets. The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) has seen to that.
From that date, MAVCOM will enforce the amended Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC) that requires airlines to disclose the final prices of air tickets after adding all the charges, MAVCOM chief operating officer Azmir Zain said today.
He said the days of airlines levying multiple hidden extra charges, such as administrative and card-payment charges, on passengers has come to an end.
“So, if carriers still carry on imposing hidden charges, we can take action on them for violating the order.
“For example, the carriers can choose to forgo the card-payment charge or, if they still wish to impose the charge on consumers, that will need to appear in the price of the air ticket and not as a hidden charge anymore,” he told Bernama in an interview at his office.
Azmir said MAVCOM had made the amendment following numerous complaints from consumers to provide stronger and comprehensive consumer protection for airline passengers in the country.
He also said that MAVCOM has approved a total of 864 additional flights on 27 domestic routes between May 25 and June 17 in conjunction with the Aidilfitri, Hari Gawai and Pesta Kaamatan festive seasons.
These include 114 flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu; 88 between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Bharu; 83 between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching; 27 between Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan; 29 between Kuala Lumpur and Tawau and 11 between Langkawi and Melaka.
“The 864 additional flights translate to 283,592 seats … this means 283,592 people actually can enjoy going home for the festive celebrations as a result of these additional seats,” he said, adding that of the 864, some 580 flights are offered by AirAsia; 121 by Malaysia Airlines; 153 by Malindo Air and 10 by Firefly.
Azmir said that based on the latest MAVCOM survey on airfares on 10 routes, additional flights have resulted in lower airfares in the majority of those routes compared with last year.
“Seven routes resulted in lower airfares by as much as 8.9 per cent to 71 per cent … they are Kuala Lumpur-Alor Setar, Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur-Bintulu, Kuala Lumpur-Kuching, Kuala Lumpur-Labuan, Kuala Lumpur-Miri and Kuala Lumpur-Terengganu.
“However, we have also noticed that there are a handful of routes which have seen an increase in airfares – Johor Bahru-Sibu, Kuala Lumpur-Sandakan and Kuala Lumpur-Tawau. We reckon that this is an indication of the level of demand for those particular routes relative to supply despite the additional services,” he said. – Bernama