The fued between AirAsia Bhd and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) took a turn for the worse when the low-cost carrier today refuted claims by the airport operator that AirAsia was the main reason for the cost of the new low-cost terminal, or KLIA2, to increase substantially.
In a statement here today, the low-cost carrier also said it did not ask for
a bigger KLIA2. AirAsia has called for a press conference tomorrow at its headquarters in Sepang to refute MAHB's claims of asking for a bigger KLIA2.
The budget carrier also provided copies of two official letters sent by
AirAsia to MAHB and vice versa to prove that it should not be blamed for the
price tag of KLIA2 to almost double.
AirAsia, MAHB's biggest customer, said its chairman, Datuk Abdul Aziz Abu
Bakar, had in a letter on November 2009 to MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, cautioned that the location of KLIA2 at KLIA West was not suitable and would cause construction costs to soar.
"The site will definitely be more expensive than the planned budget of RM2
billion," AirAsia said, adding it had also estimated for MAHB that the
construction cost will increase to RM3.6-RM3.9 billion.
In a separate letter dated Aug 9 this year, Bashir had written to AirAsia X
chairman, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, claiming that the proposed KLIA2 would be
sufficient to handle 30 million passengers per annum.
"This figure has never been officially changed by AirAsia or MAHB since Aug
9, 2011," AirAsia said, in refuting claims made by MAHB in an article entitled
"Why KLIA2 has to be bigger" posted on its website.
According to the article, MAHB claimed that AirAsia had been the one to
estimate that passenger traffic at the new terminal would reach 28.7 million by
2015, 45.3 million by 2020 and 60.3 million by 2025.
AirAsia chief executive officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, had also dismissed
MAHB's justifications for doubling the cost of KLIA2 from its original RM2
billion estimate in 2009 to RM3.9 billion currently.
AirAsia had mentioned in a letter that the airline should not be held
accountable for cost over-runs arising from the incorporation of these needs.
The airline also refuted MAHB's claim that it had asked for a
fully-automated baggage handling system (BHS), which is believed to have caused delays in construction, saying it had only asked for a semi-automated BHS.
"The MAHB board had unilaterally decided on a fully-automated BHS to
accommodate 45-60 million passengers, which was again not agreed to by
AirAsia," it said.
AirAsia said its request for a 3,000-metre runway had been based on its
original requirement to MAHB to cater to the wide-bodied Airbus A330 aircraft,
which were operated by Air Asia X.
Later, the airline said, MAHB has since shortened the runway length to 2,750
metres, which can only cater to the A320 aircraft, without consulting AirAsia.
"As such, this should not be considered as an additional request/requirement
from AirAsia as the original plan has always been for a 3,000-metre runway. "Therefore, no additional cost should be incurred," it said. -- Bernama
In a statement here today, the low-cost carrier also said it did not ask for
a bigger KLIA2. AirAsia has called for a press conference tomorrow at its headquarters in Sepang to refute MAHB's claims of asking for a bigger KLIA2.
The budget carrier also provided copies of two official letters sent by
AirAsia to MAHB and vice versa to prove that it should not be blamed for the
price tag of KLIA2 to almost double.
AirAsia, MAHB's biggest customer, said its chairman, Datuk Abdul Aziz Abu
Bakar, had in a letter on November 2009 to MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, cautioned that the location of KLIA2 at KLIA West was not suitable and would cause construction costs to soar.
"The site will definitely be more expensive than the planned budget of RM2
billion," AirAsia said, adding it had also estimated for MAHB that the
construction cost will increase to RM3.6-RM3.9 billion.
In a separate letter dated Aug 9 this year, Bashir had written to AirAsia X
chairman, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, claiming that the proposed KLIA2 would be
sufficient to handle 30 million passengers per annum.
"This figure has never been officially changed by AirAsia or MAHB since Aug
9, 2011," AirAsia said, in refuting claims made by MAHB in an article entitled
"Why KLIA2 has to be bigger" posted on its website.
According to the article, MAHB claimed that AirAsia had been the one to
estimate that passenger traffic at the new terminal would reach 28.7 million by
2015, 45.3 million by 2020 and 60.3 million by 2025.
AirAsia chief executive officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, had also dismissed
MAHB's justifications for doubling the cost of KLIA2 from its original RM2
billion estimate in 2009 to RM3.9 billion currently.
AirAsia had mentioned in a letter that the airline should not be held
accountable for cost over-runs arising from the incorporation of these needs.
The airline also refuted MAHB's claim that it had asked for a
fully-automated baggage handling system (BHS), which is believed to have caused delays in construction, saying it had only asked for a semi-automated BHS.
"The MAHB board had unilaterally decided on a fully-automated BHS to
accommodate 45-60 million passengers, which was again not agreed to by
AirAsia," it said.
AirAsia said its request for a 3,000-metre runway had been based on its
original requirement to MAHB to cater to the wide-bodied Airbus A330 aircraft,
which were operated by Air Asia X.
Later, the airline said, MAHB has since shortened the runway length to 2,750
metres, which can only cater to the A320 aircraft, without consulting AirAsia.
"As such, this should not be considered as an additional request/requirement
from AirAsia as the original plan has always been for a 3,000-metre runway. "Therefore, no additional cost should be incurred," it said. -- Bernama
