AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) and AirAsia X (D7, Kuala Lumpur International) have withdrawn their appeal against a Malaysia High Court ruling from June 2019 dismissing the airlines' attempt to force the Malaysian Aviation Committee (Mavcom) to mediate a dispute with Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd (MASSB), The Edge Markets has reported.
The LCCs discontinued the appeal shortly before the court was due to hear the case on July 21.
The two AirAsia Group units previously sought to force Mavcom to mediate their dispute with Kuala Lumpur International Airport's operator over airport charges and quality of service at the low-cost klia2 terminal. In June 2019, the High Court said that it was not entitled to open a review since Mavcom did not refuse to mediate but rather deferred the decision on the dispute.
While AirAsia and MASSB, the wholly-owned subsidiary of state-owned Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB), the operator of 39 airports in Malaysia and Istanbul Sabiha Gökcen, had a rocky relationship for years, the conflict escalated in 2018 when the airport raised passenger charges at klia2 terminal in line with those of the full-service terminal 1. AirAsia and AirAsia X refused to collect the increased fees, arguing that the level of service at the terminal was markedly lower than at the full-service facility and as such, the fees should be lower. In December 2018, the airport operator sued AirAsia Group's short-haul unit for MYR9.4 million ringgits (USD2.2 million at that time) and the long-haul airline for MYR26.7 million ringgits (USD6.4 million) for passenger fees outstanding since July 1, 2018. In response, AirAsia served notice to MASSB covering nearly MRY480 million ringgits (USD117.2 million) in February 2019.
It is unclear if these two disputes are still ongoing. Neither AirAsia nor Malaysia Airports responded to ch-aviation's inquiry about the status of the litigation.
