The Malaysian High Court Judge Datuk Nordin Hassan has dismissed an AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) application to open a judicial review of the Malaysian Aviation Commission's (Mavcom) refusal to mediate a dispute between the LCC and Malaysian Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB).

The Edge Malaysia has reported that the court ruled that it was not entitled to open a review since no decision was made by the Mavcom in the first place. According to the judge, the Mavcom only deferred the decision regarding the mediation. Such an argument was put forward by the Attorney-General's Chambers.

"This does not amount to a decision that renders AirAsia adversely affected or aggrieved and therefore entitled the budget airline to make the judicial review application," senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said.

In mid-May 2019, AirAsia asked the court to mandate the Mavcom to mediate between the airline and the MAHB on the ongoing airport fees dispute. The LCC argued that the Commission was under obligation to mediate between parties in such a dispute.

The dispute concerns passenger fees at the Kuala Lumpur International Terminal 2 (KLIA2). MAHB, the state-owned airport operator, levelled the fees on both terminals in mid-2019. AirAsia Group, which is the main user of KLIA2, refused to pay the full amount and insisted on keeping lower fees due to the inferior quality of infrastructure at the terminal in comparison to Terminal 1. In December 2018, MAHB sued AirAsia for MYR9.4 million ringgits (USD2.2 million) and AirAsia X for MYR26.7 million ringgits (USD6.4 million) for passenger fees outstanding since July 1, 2018. In response, the two airlines jointly sued MAHB for nearly MRY480 million ringgits (USD117.2 million) in damages and compensation for losses incurred at the KLIA2 terminal.

The next court hearing in the ongoing case between AirAsia and MAHB is scheduled for July 4, 2019.