KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has approved 53 applications of Air Traffic Rights (ATR) for the period of Jan 1 to March 31, 2019 (1Q) with AirAsia Group receiving the highest number of approvals.

According to its executive chairman Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, AirAsia Group got the highest number of approvals with 26 allocations followed by Malindo Air with 15 allocations.

In allocating ATR, Mavcom, he said, undertakes a thorough analysis, taking into multiple considerations in order to facilitate orderly growth, competition and consumer choice over the long term as well as the prevention of consumer inconvenience.

"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 today.

Mavcom said 52 applications were approved in full while one application was approved partially.

Of the 53 applications approved, 32.1% were for domestic routes while 67.9% was for the international routes.

The approved ATR were for 17 domestic routes, ASEAN (11), destinations, China (11), two for Indian routes, five for Australasia and five for other Asian destinations.

Breaking down the numbers further, it said 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.

Mavcom also said, 20 ATR that were previously approved were not utilised by the recipients and were returned to the commission during the period under review with the highest number of unused ATR returned was from the AirAsia group (13), followed by Malindo Air (5).

Allocation of ATR is one of the Mavcom’s statutory responsibilities under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015 [Act 771].

Last year, the commission issued a total of 205 ATR with AirAsia Group the highest recipient with 98 ATR allocated, followed by Malindo Air with 52.