New tax, better facilities?

New tax, better facilities?

PETALING JAYA: With the revised Passenger Service Charge (PSC), airports must now have better facilities and services for passengers, say stakeholders.

The airports’ ambience, air quality and temperature standards, as well as their washrooms and passenger seating all need to be improved, said Malaysian Tourism Federation president Datuk Tan Kok Liang.

He also said more immigration counters should be opened during peak periods, besides having better WiFi connectivity, improved boarding bridges, upgraded check-in facilities and more food and beverage options.

He suggested that EV vehicles be used for passenger transfers.

However, he said the revision of the PSC, which makes travel within Asean more expensive, was unlikely to deter Asean tourists from visiting Malaysia.

Asean arrivals constitute around 70% of international arrivals.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) president Nigel Wong said the newly-introduced transit charges should be reviewed to help airports function more effectively as hubs and attract more flights.

“Compared (with other countries), regionally our prices are still very reasonable and manageable, and the PSC increase must result in better services and improved facilities.

“There’s no point in increasing the PSC if there are no significant changes to the level or quality of service at the airports,” he said, adding that improvements should involve faster baggage clearance and proper maintenance of facilities like shuttle trains. He also said traffic management and parking facilities should be improved.Batik Air chief executive officer Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy said the passenger touch-point experience at Malaysian airports had to be improved.

“Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) developed an airport in 1998. From then until now, we haven’t seen any changes in the structure of the airport. We want the passenger touch-point experience to be better.

“We support the increase in airport tax because you can’t expect an airport to provide five-star service with no extra charge at all,” he said.

Chandran, too, felt the PSC revision would not affect bookings, saying there was no panic buying. However, he said, there could be a rush closer to the effective date of June 1.

“So far, we haven’t seen any panic buying yet. Perhaps in the last two weeks or so, as it’s effective on June 1,” he added.

The Malaysian Aviation Commission recently announced the revised PSC with all international departures, including those within Asean, being charged PSC of RM73 from KLIA and RM50 from KLIA2 and other Malaysian airports.The charges were previously RM73 for international travel both from KLIA and KLIA2 while those travelling within Asean paid RM35 at all airports.

The new rates mean passengers travelling within Asean from KLIA will pay an extra RM38 while those using other airports will see an RM15 increase.

Conversely, passengers leaving from KLIA2 or other airports to destinations beyond Asean will pay RM23 less.

Domestic passengers transferring through Malaysian airports (except Senai International Airport) will be hit with a RM7 charge while international passengers transferring through KLIA have to pay RM42. Those transiting via other Malaysian airports have to pay RM29.

The domestic departure PSC remains unchanged at RM11, except for Senai International Airport, which will increase to RM16.