SEPANG (Feb 7): The merger between the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) into a single aviation regulatory agency is still under discussion.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said that the matter was expected to be brought to Parliament this year, either in the second or third session.

He made this statement to the media after seeing off passengers of Batik Air departing from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1, here on Wednesday.

The second session of the Parliament sitting is scheduled from June 24 to July 18, while the third session is expected from Oct 7 to Dec 5.

The merger between Mavcom and CAAM was announced by Loke in 2019.

Currently, Malaysia is one of the few countries with two aviation regulators, namely Mavcom and CAAM.

Mavcom oversees the financial, commercial, and economic aspects of aviation companies, while CAAM focuses on technical aspects.

Meanwhile, Batik Air's group strategy director, Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy, who was also present at the send-off event, announced that the airline will reinstate two daily flights between Kuala Lumpur and Sibu starting Feb 6, in response to growing demands and aligning with the government's initiative to increase flight frequencies between East and Peninsular Malaysia.

He mentioned that due to the high travel demand during the Lunar Chinese New Year celebrations, Batik Air would offer an additional daily flight between Feb 6 to 9, departing at 5pm and departing from Sibu at 7.55pm.