by BERNAMA/ pic by BLOOMBERG

Low-cost airlines, AirAsia Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd filed a summon of RM479.78 million against Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd (MASSB) due to the negligence at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2).

“(The summon is for) being loss and damage caused by negligence on the part of MASSB, its servants and/or agents in the management, operation, maintenance and/or provision of airport services and facilities at klia2,” said AirAsia Group Bhd in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

The writ of summons was filed at Kuala Lumpur High Court on Oct 2, 2019.

In a separate statement, the group said AirAsia and AirAsia X had earlier sought mediation by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) on their dispute with MASSB, in accordance with Sections 74 to 78 of the Mavcom Act.

Despite this, Mavcom refused to mediate and a subsequent attempt by AirAsia to seek a judicial review of Mavcom’s inaction was dismissed.

 AirAsia chief executive officer (CEO) Riad Asmat and AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said the airlines were forced to take such legal action despite their best efforts to settle this matter amicably and through the right channels.

“We feel compelled to file this claim as we were left with no other recourse to protect our interests.

“This dispute all started when MAHB filed a civil suit against us over passenger service charges (PSC) after rejecting our offer to go for mediation,” they said.

AirAsia and AirAsia X have always been open to resolving issues with their partners constructively, and they still contend that MAHB was heavy-handed in filing the suit, they added.

AirAsia’s share on Bursa Malaysia closed the day two sen lower at RM1.68 after 11.29 million shares changing hands.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (the parent company of MASSB) finished four sen higher at RM8.70 after 1.10 million shares transacted.