AirAsia CEO Riad Asmat has publicly criticised the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), blaming it for holding back Malaysia's airline industry with slow approvals and high charges.
Asmat said in a statement: “It [Mavcom] is holding the industry back with slow approvals and high charges while other countries invest heavily in increased air traffic connectivity, to the detriment of the Malaysian tourism sector and the economy.”
He added that AirAsia had seen a 3% decline in tourist arrivals to 25.95 million in 2017 and that Mavcom’s rejection of route applications would only further compound the issue.
Mavcom has defended its decision to reject AirAsia’s application to add more flights on two routes, Kota Kinabalu-Sandakan and Kuala Lumpur-Haikou, on the basis of route overcapacity.