KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here has denied MYArline Sdn Bhd’s bid to dismiss an over RM17.7 million suit brought by Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd and Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd over alleged overdue airport service charges.
Previously, in seeking to strike out the suit, MYAirline claimed that instead of resorting to court action, the plaintiffs should have resorted to a dispute resolution mechanism under the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) Act 2015.
However, judge Gan Techiong ruled today that the dispute resolution mechanism under Sections 74 and 78 of the act does not apply here as the provisions in question do not cover disputes on airport charges, Malaysiakini reported.
Highlighting that the dispute resolution mechanism is only for disputes over aviation services at airports, the justice said Mavcom does not have power under the referenced sections of the act to decide on contractual disputes between airline services.
“The power to order payment (on airport charges) belongs to the civil courts and a few selected tribunals like the industrial court and buyer tribunals conferred with power by Parliament to order payment from one party to another.
“The civil courts have jurisdiction to hear the two plaintiffs’ suit against the defendant,” Gan was quoted as saying.
He also pointed out that since MYAirline’s aviation service licence had already been revoked last year, Mavcom has no power to hear the dispute.
“Are the plaintiffs to be left with no remedy to claim unpaid charges against a defendant who is no longer licensed to operate?
“Such construction of the law would be absurd,” he added before ordering MYAirline to pay a total of RM30,000 in costs to the two plaintiffs.
The court then proceeded to hear the plaintiffs’ application for summary judgment, which is when the court comes to a verdict based on statements and evidence without going through a full trial.
The plaintiffs filed the suit on October 18 last year via Messrs Skrine, claiming that MYAirline did not pay outstanding fees for airport facilities to Malaysia Airports and Malaysia Airports (Sepang).
These fees include passenger service charges, passenger security service charges, aeroplane landing, aircraft parking, aerobridge, check-in counter as well as late payment charges.
They claimed that MYAirline owed Malaysia Airports RM9.11 million and its Sepang subsidiary RM8.63 million in arrears, totalling RM17.7 million.
The plaintiffs are also seeking any further outstanding airport charges due and payable by the defendant to be assessed along with general damages.
They also seek an interest rate of 5% per year on the damages awarded by the court from the date the claim was filed to the date of full settlement, as well as costs and other relief deemed fit by the court. – August 16, 2024
