CONSUMER complaints dropped by more than 59% in the first half of the year, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) said.

Mavcom said it received 157 complaints during the period.

This, it said, had translated to a 59.1% reduction in filed complaints compared to the same period last year.

Mavcom executive chairman Saripuddin Kasim said it was able to resolve 97.5 % of complaints and approve all Air Traffic Rights (ATR) requested.

He said this indicated Mavcom‘s continued dedication to both consumers and industry players alike.

“The growth of the cargo sector has certainly been a silver lining for the aviation industry during this pandemic.

“With the ballooning demand for e-commerce coupled with reduced belly space cargo capacity thrusting the cargo sector globally forward, we will continue to support local players to take advantage of the prospects ahead.”

The report said that of the 157 complaints, 98.1% were complaints about the airlines and the remainder were related to the airports.

Mavcom said AirAsia represented 41.4 %of the total complaints filed with the commission, followed by Malaysia Airlines at 28.7 % and Malindo Air at 12.1 %.

“All airlines, except Firefly Airlines, observed a drop in the number of complaints filed with Mavcom, corresponding with a decrease in the number of passengers carried.

“Mavcom noted that 60.1% of the complaints resulted in airlines reversing their initial decisions by providing resolutions that are more equitable or satisfactory to the consumers, reflecting a 2.3 percentage point increase compared to the corresponding period in 2020.”

Mavcom successfully resolved 97.5% of the complaints within six months, it said.

“Eighty-two of the complaints were non-actionable due to incomplete documentation by consumers, complaints falling beyond the scope of the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 or complaints being filed over a year from the date of the incident.

“Resolved complaints included those related to refunds, frequent flyer programmes and flight cancellations.”
 
At the same time, Mavcom said  675 Covid-19 related refund requests were submitted in the first half of the year.

In addition to resolving consumer complaints and requests, Mavcom said it aimed to improve education on air travel rights and provide further improvements to increase consumer convenience, as well as the implementation of the Airports Quality of Service Framework.

Mavcom said the ATR report was for the period spanning July 1 to September 30 when the Malaysian Air Cargo sector saw solid growth.

The report outlines the commission’s ATR allocations for the Malaysian civil aviation sector.

Mavcom said the commission continues to play its role as an economic regulator for the civil aviation industry with the approval of 100 % of 21 ATR applications received in the third quarter of 2021.

“The 21 applications represent a 110% increase in application rates as compared to the second quarter of 2021.
 
“The commission approved 14 ATRs for international destinations and 7 ATRs for domestic routes.

“MyJet Xpress Sdn Bhd and World Cargo Airline Sdn Bhd were awarded the highest number of approvals with five ATRs each, followed by AirAsia X Berhad and MAB Kargo Sdn Bhd with four ATR and three ATR approvals respectively, as well as two ATR approvals each for Malaysia Airlines Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd.”

Mavcom said of the 21 ATR applications, 18 applications were from the cargo sector signalling continued healthy growth in the sector.

“The commission had previously reported an expected expansion between 26.5% year-on-year and 28.2% YOY in Malaysia’s air cargo traffic for 2021.”

Mavcom said the commission is continuing to support industry players in their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic by extending its suspension of the evaluation of domestic ATR applications, which has been in place since October 2020 until further notice. – October 25, 2021.