The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) has denied allegations levelled by AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes that it had tried to block AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) from adding extra flights prior to the May 9 general elections, Channel News Asia has reported.
AirAsia operated 120 additional flights in order to allow voters to return to their constituencies, a move that MAVCOM would have tried to block, Fernandes had earlier claimed in a video posted online.
"Within 24 hours, we were summoned by MAVCOM, and told to cancel all those flights. That put us again under tremendous pressure," Fernandes has said.
"The Commission categorically refutes the accusation that it told AirAsia to cancel all 120 additional flights applied for by AirAsia during the 14th Malaysian General Election period," MAVCOM has said.
MAVCOM has added that it had approved 66 of these flights. Following the accusations made by Fernandes, seen as "extremely serious" by MAVCOM, the agency will lodge a complaint to the police.
Fernandes has recently come under fire for appearing to support the Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance of the ousted Prime Minister Najib Razak before the elections.
Responding to these allegations, Fernandes has posted a statement online in which he has admitted to buckling to government pressure shortly before the vote by painting one of the aircraft in the BN's colours, taking photos together with Najib and posting a video supportive of the then PM. However, Fernandes has also said that he had been earlier attacked by the government for refusing to sack AirAsia X (D7, Kuala Lumpur International) chairwoman Rafidah Aziz after her comments critical of the Najib's government.
The BN alliance, led by the UMNO party, has lost power for the first time in 61 years, losing the vote to the Pakatan Harapan coalition led by Najib's one-time mentor, 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad.
