AirAsia wants Govt to allocate more funds to DCA

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government should allocate more funds for the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) in Budget 2013 in line with its efforts to transform Malaysia into a tourism hub in Asean.

AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar said with air travel becoming a very crucial driver of the country's tourism, more funds for DCA would boost the department's capabilities in handling Malaysia's growing air traffic.

“Airlines from Malaysia, including AirAsia, bring a lot of traffic to the region and the country,” she told Bernama in an interview.
<B>Aireen:</B> ‘Airlines from Malaysia, including AirAsia, bring a lot of traffic to the region and the country.’ Aireen: ‘Airlines from Malaysia, including AirAsia, bring a lot of traffic to the region and the country.’

Prime Minister cum Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is scheduled to table Budget 2013 on Sept 28.

Aireen said AirAsia's pilots were having difficulties with air traffic control at Malaysian airports, and the issue was persistent with the ever increasing flight movements at the airports during peak periods.

She added that the Government should consider introducing a system to monitor the landing period of planes according to airlines to prevent delays, like what was practised in Singapore, Indonesia and the Phillippines.

“Maybe through the system, we can ensure a smooth and efficient aviation industry,” she said.

Malaysia registered 24.7 million tourist arrivals last year with about RM58.3bil in receipts.

For the first six months of 2012, a total of 11.6 million tourists visited Malaysia, registering growth of 2.4% compared with the same period last year.

Total tourism receipts for the first half of this year also rose, generating RM26.8bil in revenue, up 4% over the same period in 2011. Bernama

Sourced: biz.thestar