Malaysia’s MYAirline must pay airport operators $4 million

Malaysia’s Supreme Court has ordered defunct airline MYAirline (MYM, Kuala Lumpur Subang) to pay two airport operators 17.7 million ringgit (US$4.04 million) in overdue airport fees, Malaysia’s Buletin TV3 reported.

Judicial Commissioner Gan Techiong on August 16 ordered the airline to pay MYR9,111,402.94 (USD2,081,000) to Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd and MYR8,636,150.08 (USD1,972,000) to Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd. MYAirline was also ordered to pay MYR40,000 (USD9,140) in costs to both parties, of which MYR30,000 (USD6,850) was due to the airline’s failed attempt to have the claims dismissed.

Malaysia Airports and Malaysia Airports (Sepang) are subsidiaries of state-owned Malaysia Airports Holdings, which manages airports nationwide. In their first demand in October 2023, the companies said MYAirline owes them MYR10,863,478 (USD2,484,500) in passenger service and security fees: MYR5,445,555 (USD1,245,400) in landing fees; MYR176,018 (USD40,250) in parking fees; MYR655,760 (USD149,975) in jet bridge fees and MYR267,367 (USD61,150) in check-in counter fees, in addition to MYR339,374 (USD77,600) in late payment fees.

Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd’s claim concerned MYAirline’s use of KLIA Terminal 2 between its opening in late 2022 and its collapse in October 2023. Malaysia Airports (Sepang)’s claim concerned the use of facilities and airfares at other Malaysian airports it served, including Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Langkawi.

In its unsuccessful challenge to the motion, MYAirline argued that the plaintiffs should have exhausted the dispute resolution mechanisms of the Malaysian Aviation Commission before taking legal action. While the motion was challenged, MYAirline did not provide a defence to the plaintiffs’ claims, resulting in the court granting summary judgment in favour of the airport operator.

ch-aviation has asked MYAirline for a comment.