KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): AirAsia Bhd has rejected a claim in a news article yesterday that passengers using the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) are subsidising klia2.

AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar said KLIA and klia2 are two "vastly different" airport terminals which provide different level of services and facilities to its users.

"It is inaccurate to say the services provided between the two airport terminals are comparable as facilities at KLIA are far more superior as compared to klia2," Aireen said in a statement. "It is absolutely untrue to claim that passengers travelling on other airports are subsidising the operational cost of klia2."

The article, published by Bernama, asserted that the move by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) to equalise passenger service charges (PSC) between KLIA and klia2 with effect from January 2018 "would ensure that passengers at KLIA and other airports in Malaysia do not end up subsidising for klia2".

Aireen said AirAsia seeks Mavcom's transparency on this claim and "strongly urge that Mavcom review feedback from travellers and customers of klia2, as well as look into the multiple representations on the visible differences of the facilities and services offered between KLIA and klia2".

Low cost carriers AirAsia and AirAsiaX are by far the biggest users of klia2.

On the assertion that the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the club for most full service carriers, supports the move to impose equal charges for both airport terminals, Aireen said IATA does not represent the main airlines and passengers of both terminals.

She added that without a full, transparent and independent assessment of the airport terminals, the association is not in the best position to make a statement on behalf of the industry, and its guidelines of supporting "fair and cost-effective airport charges".

Aireen also described as "completely invalid and unjustified as well as ignoring ground realities" the assertion in the Bernama article that AirAsia is "operating on government crutches" since the budget airline gets a "competitive pricing advantage from the lower PSC, at the taxpayers' expense".

She said the PSC is paid directly by the customers who travel and has "absolutely no bearing" on the financial performance of AirAsia.

According to Aireen, the article only seeks to justify the imposition of equal charges between KLIA and klia2, ignoring the ground realities between "two vastly different airport terminals offering radically different customer experiences".

"Again, we implore Mavcom to review the differences in facilities and services between two airport terminals and look into the customers' opinions and feedback," she added.