PETALING JAYA, Aug 12 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s cost of living national key results area (NKRA) is a sham as his administration continues to support monopolies such as the share swap involving Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia, Pakatan Rakyat said today.
Bukit Bendera DAP MP Liew Chin Tong cited the creation of an airline “cartel” through the alliance between the loss-making state carrier and Asia’s biggest low-cost airline would lead to higher fares for passengers in the long term.
“The formation of an aviation cartel is a sure way to kill the Malaysian aviation sector... and impose burden on travellers,” he told reporters here.
Under the share swap, MAS will return to be a long-haul premium airline while its subsidiary Firefly will cater to the short-haul premium market, leaving AirAsia and its long-haul sister airline AirAsia X to cater to the growing low-cost market.
Trading in the stock market has favoured MAS in the share swap, with its share price rising 25 sen since the deal was announced on Tuesday while AirAsia’s share price has dropped 49 sen per share since then.
PAS central working committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the creation of the new monopoly via the share swap would only serve to make distortions in an already inefficient market greater, to the detriment of consumers.
“Unless (AirAsia chief executive Tan Sri) Tony Fernandes dares to guarantee that fares will not rise,” he joked.
The Kuala Selangor MP said matters were made worse by Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) airport tax hike earlier this week as consumers would ultimately foot the bill.
Dzulkelfy also revealed that part of the opposition’s alternative budget would focus on breaking up existing monopolies to help lower prices for the benefit of the bottom 60 per cent living on RM3,000 and below per month.
MAS’s main shareholder Khazanah Nasional Bhd finalised a share swap with Tune Air Sdn Bhd today which saw the state investment arm pare down its stake in the ailing state carrier by almost a third.
Under the “Comprehensive Collaboration Framework”, Tune Air, AirAsia’s main shareholder, will swap a 10 per cent stake in the no-frills airline for a 20.5 per cent share in MAS.
Before the share swap, Tune Air was the biggest shareholder in AirAsia with a 26.28 per cent stake while Khazanah held a total of 69.33 per cent in MAS.
The collaboration agreement comes into immediate effect for a period of five years with an option to extend it for a further five years.
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