KAJANG: The new Passenger Service Charge (PSC) or "airport tax", which will see higher rates imposed on air travellers, will be implemented on Jan 1, 2017.
As to details of the new charges, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said, it would be announced by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) soon.
"Mavcom presented their views to me, and we are looking at the finer details. We also discussed in the cabinet today. The details will be announced by Mavcom.
"We made certain decisions, but all of this is under Mavcom's purview, so I will leave it to them to make the announcement," he told reporters after launching the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Bandar Sungai Long, here, today.
The Sun, on Wednesday reported that the new rates for PSC had been approved by the Cabinet and is to be implemented at all airports nationwide, in a move deemed to "level the playing field".
According to aviation sources, the new increased PSC charges would be:
» RM11 for domestic flights, up from RM9 currently;
» RM35 for flights to ASEAN countries; and
» RM73 for international flights, up from RM65 out of KLIA 1, and RM32 from KLIA 2 currently.
Despite the increase, Liow maintained that the new charges were still considerably lower when compared to many other countries.
When asked if it would be unfair to charge similar PSC for international flights from KLIA 1 and KLIA 2 despite poorer facilities in KLIA 2, Liow said: "There is no discrimination in Malaysia's policies."
On the report of the investigation by the Joint Investigation Team into the downing of flight MH17 scheduled for release Sept 28, Liow said he hoped the perpetrators would be identified then to allow the government to take the next course of action.
He said once identified, Malaysia would then decide whether to bring them to the International Court of Arbitration or summon them in the national court.
"We would like justice to be done and want the perpetrators to be charged. So we hope this report will identify who the real perpetrators are. We are still unable to decide whats our next move until we see the report. As of now, there is no decision yet from us," he said.
Earlier in his speech, Liow said the country's practise of having multi-stream education system has allowed it to compete better at the international level.
"Having Chinese, Indian and Malay schools have given us the advantage, not only in educating our multi-racial community, but also increasing our competitiveness at the international level," he said.
Source: The Sun Daily | 22 Sept. 2016
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