Friday December 9, 2011
AirAsia-MAHB drama aside, passengers want good facilities, low fares
Friday Reflections - By B.K. Sidhu
THE fiery spat between AirAsia Bhd andMalaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB)over the past two weeks has somewhat turned ugly with each party resorting to showing documents to prove their case.
This is something unseen in the aviation industry and will not be easily forgotten.
But the good thing is that there has been a ceasefire.
The brouhaha stemmed from the fact that Malaysia was going to get a “super class” low-cost air terminal that many have not conditioned their minds to, as they are more used to a low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) that resembles a “horse stable”.
Low-cost air travel was introduced to us a decade ago.
In fact, yesterday was AirAsia's 10th anniversary.
Low fares good facilities wanted:For the travellers, all the drama does not mean much. They just want good facilities, low taxes and airfares, as well as world-class service. These days the choices are aplenty, such as Changi Airport, SIA, Scoot, Emirates and Qatar Airways. - EPA file pic
Before Dec 8, 2001, most Malaysians had no clue what low-cost or no-frills air travel was.
There was no choice, only premium service provided by Malaysia Airlinesand that meant forking out big bucks for a flight.
The KL-Singapore-KL, a 45 minutes flight then was RM840, and a roundtrip to London cost over RM6,000, but the fares now can be a fraction of that.
This article is not intended to boost the egos for those behind AirAsia, but it's fair to say the airline has changed the aviation industry. AirAsia gave many people a lifetime opportunity to take to the skies.
After Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and his partners famously took over AirAsia (and its losses) for RM1, they started with two aircraft, two destinations and 200 employees.
Today, it is three times bigger and has flown more than 142 million people.
It started at Subang, moved to the KL International Airport, and then a dedicated LCCT was built because its growth was phenomenal and the airline needed to keep its costs down.
At the rate it is growing, the airline will expand four to five times larger than its original size over the next decade. Its growth is unstoppable as the people want a cheap way to travel.
Naturally, a bigger facility is needed and according to its estimates, it would be able to carry 30 million passengers by 2015/16. Being an airport operator, MAHB has to ensure its biggest LCC (low-cost carrier) client had the space it needed to cater for that growth.
MAHB began planning the KLIA2. At one time, AirAsia entertained the idea of building its own terminal in Labu, Negri Sembilan, but that was shot down by the Government.
Initially, the plan was to build a terminal to cater for 30 million passengers. However, after taking into consideration the robust growth AirAsia had targeted, MAHB decided to plan for 45 million passengers and that meant nearly doubling the construction cost to between RM3.6bil and RM3.9bil.
That huge price tag became an issue for Fernandes. His biggest fear was that the cost would translate into higher rental and the likes. At the same time, MAHB got the green light to raise the passenger service tax (PSC).
This was when the real war broke out as Fernandes decided to get the public involved in a campaign against the PSC hike.
His rationale was that travel cost must remain low or no one would fly AirAsia.
These two issues became a hot topic and it was not Fernandes alone fighting the MAHB; his entire team entered the battlefield.
Up to that point, MAHB and its MD Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad had never been confrontational although it was widely known that there had been times when AirAsia has had frosty relations with the airport operator.
Therefore, many were surprised when the docile MAHB finally retaliated and went on the offensive as well. Both parties had to burn the midnight oil to prepare for the onslaught.
But amid the heat of war, it takes an equal amount of courage to lay down arms. Both sides did so because they realised that prolonging the fight would not benefit anybody. MAHB offered the olive branch and Fernandes accepted it, saying “enough is enough.”
Hopefully, this chapter is closed for good.
For the travellers, all the drama does not mean much. They just want good facilities, low taxes and airfares, as well as world-class service. These days the choices are aplenty, such as Changi Airport, SIA, Scoot, Emirates and Qatar Airways.
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