This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 13, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: MAB Kargo Sdn Bhd (MASkargo), the cargo freight arm of Malaysia Airlines Bhd, will be raising its warehouse tariffs for all cargo terminals, the first revision in six years.

The higher charges will come into effect on Sept 1, the company said, adding that there will be another revision on April 1 next year.

The revision is necessary because of the increase in operating cost since the last revision in April 2013, MASkargo chief executive officer Ibrahim Mohamed Salleh said in a statement posted on the company’s website.

Ibrahim said the higher charges are also aimed at recouping investments made to modernise, improve and digitise the company’s cargo handling facilities, and to ensure long-term business sustainability to continuously support the country’s air cargo logistics.

For its cargo service at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), terminal charge (loose) will be raised to 28 sen per kg on Sept 1, from 25 sen currently. The rate will further increase to 30 sen on April 1 next year.

Ibrahim said MASkargo will also start charging a special handling fee of five sen per kg from Sept 1. This rate will remain the same in the revision on April 1 next year. Currently, the company does not charge any special handling fee.

For terminal charge (loose) at other domestic airports, Ibrahim said MASkargo is increasing the rate to 22 sen per kg on Sept 1, from 20 sen currently.

Meanwhile, he said the company plans to increase CMR (Convention Relative au Contrat de Transport International de Marchandises par la Route) charges to RM25 per shipment effective Sept 1, from the current RM15.

For cold room service, which is free for 24 hours now, there will be a charge of RM1.50 per kg from Sept 1.

Ibrahim said other charges remain unchanged. He said the next tariff review is scheduled for the second quarter of 2022.