Malindo Air (Kuala Lumpur International) could face suspension of its operations over unpaid airport taxes, reports news site Utusan. The airline is in arrears of MYR70 million (USD16.4 million) and Supreme Council Member Mohd Puad Zarkashi has asked the Transport Minister, Liow Tiong Lai, to pursue recovery of the payments.

"There is no need for the minister to answer on behalf of Malindo Air. He should just instruct them to pay up the arrears; more so since the tax money belongs to the government," said Puad.

The former managing director of Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International), Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, has also weighed in, saying that the debts may be indicative of other underlying problems.

"I am worried if the company have problems other than just financial ones," said Abdul Aziz. "The most important thing right now is the safety of the passengers."

Malindo Air declined to comment.

Malindo is a subsidiary of Indonesia's Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta), serving domestic Malaysian flights, as well as destinations in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Nepal, Pakistan, Cambodia and Saudi Arabia.