KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): The High Court has fixed a date to hear Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd (MASSB)'s application to strike out the RM480 million suit filed by AirAsia Group Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd, over alleged loss and damage caused by negligence at klia2.
Talitha Shim, associate at Sreenevasan Young appearing on behalf of AirAsia, told theedgemarkets.com that the High Court has today set March 26 to hear MASSB's application to strike out the action.
"The judge has provisionally set March 26 as the next date to hear the strike out application. This is a provisional date, however, so a different date may be set later," she said, after meeting with Justice Datin Rohani Ismail in chambers today.
Also present for case management today was Eric Gabriel Gomez of Skrine on behalf of MASSB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).
In November, MASSB had applied to strike out the suit on the basis that the plaintiffs' claim amounts to a re-litigation of a matter that has already been determined by the High Court in a previous legal proceeding raised by the plaintiffs as a set off.
"The plaintiffs' claim could have and should have been raised in a previous legal proceeding as a counterclaim instead of as a set off," said MASSB in a court filing.
It also said AirAsia and AirAsia X's claim amounts to forum shopping and that the claim has been filed despite the plaintiffs having a pending judicial review appeal seeking an order for the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) to determine the same claim.
On Oct 2 last year, AirAsia and AirAsia X filed the lawsuit against MASSB, which manages and operates klia2, claiming RM479.78 million in loss and damages caused by negligence on the part of MASSB.
In a statement, the low-cost airlines previously said they had sought mediation by Mavcom on their dispute with MASSB, but said the commission refused to mediate and an attempt to seek a judicial review of Mavcom was dismissed.
Based on court documents sighted by theedgemarkets.com, the plaintiffs claim that MASSB had breached its duty due to the existence of sinkholes at Runway 3 of the airport.
The sinkholes have made the runway unusable for the landing and taking-off of aircraft, which therefore require the plaintiffs' aircraft to taxi increased distances resulting in longer waiting periods in order to use alternative runways.
The suit also highlighted the surface depressions and ponding at the apron, parking bays and taxiways at klia2, which have caused damage to AirAsia X's equipment, AirAsia's aircraft, as well as personal injuries to AirAsia X's employees when deploying equipment at the apron.
The airlines added that there have been frequent unplanned runway closures and prolonged operational disruptions between 2016 and 2018 at Pier P and Q at klia2, due to a ruptured underground fuel hydrant pipeline.
Excavation works in the vicinity of the airport also resulted in damage to the fibre optic cables to the plaintiffs' operations, which caused total loss of internet connectivity and disruption of communications systems for approximately eight to 10 hours on July 19, 2018.