Quick! Minimise this tab and book your tickets right this minute, if you plan to travel anytime soon—unless, you’re willing to fork out more for the amount you would normally pay for flights, of course.
From April 15 onwards, all airlines which operate out of our country, such as AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, and Malindo Air—will be looking to cough up to ten times more in fees charged by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA).
According to information by The Star, to put this into perspective, an airline would almost be paying about RM1600-RM1700 for a flight to Kota Kinabalu, a route which would have cost about RM160-RM176 now.
The reason why the fee is imposed is for the usage of air space, air traffic facilities and other criterias such as the pilot’s flight license. Also, the bigger the aircraft, the higher the imposed fees.
How Does This Affect Travellers?
This certainly isn’t the best news to hear for frequent travellers and for those who have wanderlust in their veins. With airlines having to pay more fees, these revised charges may very well result in higher flight tickets as well.
An airline executive said to The Star what every traveller would have conjured up in their mind, at the extra fees imposed:
“The rise is too drastic and too fast.”
Although it is not known when these new airline fees will cause the airlines to revise their airfares, it might be just a matter of time—since the airlines will have to think of ways to offset those higher fees by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA).
(Editor’s note at 7.46pm: Some sentences in this article were previously misunderstood by readers, that travellers have to pay up to 10 times more in airfare, which is not the case. Do note that it is the airlines that has to pay the increment of up to 10 times for the revised airline fees, not the travellers. However, with this increment, in the future, airfare may increase for travellers as well, though it is not yet predicted by how much.)
