KUALA LUMPUR - Home-grown budget carrier AsiaAsia denied it received special treatment over national carrier Malaysia Airlines in the recent domestic air rationalisation exercise.
“We are not the government’s ‘golden child’ and did not receive any special treatment,” chairman Pahamin Rajah was quoted saying in the local media.
Under the exercise, AirAsia was given 96 non-trunk routes compared with 19 for MAS.
Pahamin clarified that it was taking over only 70 routes, not 96, from August.
“This discrepancy is due to the different method that MAS adopts to tally the number of routes,” he was quoted saying.
MAS will also see its aircraft servicing the domestic sector reduced from 40 to 21. AirAsia said it will not absorb these planes, as MAS’ parent company can market them.