MELAKA, 24 Dec 2017:
Indonesian airline Xpress Air has chosen Melaka International Airport (LTAM) in Batu Berendam as a special transit point for pilgrims leaving for the holy land.
Melaka Transport and Project Rehabilitation and International Committee chairman Datuk Lim Ban Hong yesterday said a Boeing 737-300 plane from Palembang, Indonesia had already landed at LTAM here.
He said the plane carrying 126 pilgrims on their way to perform umrah used LTAM as transit before departing for Makkah.
“Xpress Air is planning to use LTAM transit to carry passengers from Palembang four times a month starting next year.
“I understand that Xpress Air has chosen LTAM transit not only for passengers from Palembang but also from Jambi, Padang and Pekanbaru.”
Xpress Air commercial director, Swandono Poernomo said this was the airline’s first special umrah flight and the airline had chosen LTAM as a transit point because apart from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, LTAM had great potential.
“There is tremendous opportunity in the umrah industry as the number of passengers increases every year,” he said adding that passengers are always looking for alternatives and LTAM was found to be a suitable transit point.
Meanwhile, the decision to equalise the Passenger Service Charge (PSC) rates between KL International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 – starting Jan 1 – should not affect the arrival of international tourists into Malaysia.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi said the PSC rate of RM73 to international destinations, besides Asean, at klia2 was the lowest rate in the world.
While criticising a claim by DAP’s Tony Pua, Ab Aziz said the decision was also in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation guideline of non-discriminatory pricing at airports.
“Therefore we want to create a fairer industry. So far the arrival of tourists in Malaysia is increasing.”
The Malaysian Aviation Commission had announced the international PSC’s rate at klia2 would be raised to RM73 starting January next year, equal to the international departure rate at all airports in Malaysia.
In fact he said, the Asean departures had been equalised to the lower rate of RM35 – which benefited a large number of Malaysians, he said.
Tony had recently claimed the decision to equalise the fees charged by klia2 as a low-cost terminal and KLIA was unreasonable, as the quality of service at klia2 was inferior when compared with KLIA.
Meanwhile Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said the PSC collection would be used to upgrade facilities in airports under MAHB.
“PSC in klia2 is equal to PSC in airports that provide international departures such as in Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Langkawi and Senai.
“Tony Pua always compare facilities in KLIA and klia2. Klia2 has the most modern luggage handling system compared to KLIA. That is the advantage of klia2.”
He added KLIA had recorded about 38 million international passenger traffic and it covered more than 70% of the total number of passengers.
– Bernama