Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 2, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has appointed former executive of AirAsia group Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh as its chief operating officer (COO) effective yesterday.

This is the second appointment at the airport operator’s senior management in less than a year.

MAHB redesignated its chief financial officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin as chief executive officer with a three-year tenure.

Raja Azmi, 52, assumed the role of acting group CEO following the retirement of Datuk Mohd Badlisham Ghazali on June 22 last year.

Shukrie, 45, was the COO of AirAsia Malaysia before taking up the current position in MAHB. He joined AirAsia group after he relinquished the CEO’s position in Pos Malaysia Bhd end-2017.

Many will be wondering whether the appointment of former AirAsia executive would help resolve the differences between MAHB and AirAsia group amicably.

In his twitter messages, AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes commented that “Shukrie is a top man. Taught me a lot and I wish him well. He values partners, can communicate well and is a positive man and a team player. These are the qualities that have been lacking in MAHB. I am sure with him there now things will improve.

“Malaysia would win big time if MAHB embrace some of our ideas and were supportive of low cost airlines. Shakrie will make the difference and I applaud the board for hiring him. We just didn’t have a proper role for this talented man. I wish him well,” said Fernandes, adding that Shukrie will one day “make an excellent CEO in aviation”.

In December last year, AirAsia Group Bhd announced that MAHB’s subsidiary, Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd (MASSB), had filed a lawsuit against the airline’s wholly-owned unit AirAsia Bhd, seeking RM9.4 million for unpaid passenger service charges (PSCs).

MASSB had also served AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) with a writ of summons of RM26.72 million for PSC arrears.

One month later, the low-cost carrier sought over RM400 million in counterclaims against MAHB in response to the suits filed by the airport operator.

The PSC is paid by departing passengers and is collected by the airlines upon purchase of tickets. It is later passed on to MAHB upon completion of the flight.

While the PSC is set at RM73 per passenger, beginning Jan 1, 2018, AirAsia and AAX have only been collecting RM50 per passenger. MAHB is now demanding that the two airlines pay up the RM23 difference per passenger from July onwards.

However, both AirAsia and AAX said they have not collected, and refuses to collect, from travelling passengers.

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