KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia does not impose a mandatory airline carbon fee but local airlines are given the green light to collect the fee should they want to.

Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) director of consumer and public affairs Pushpalatha Subramaniam said currently the aviation regulator does not regulate the implementation of carbon fee.

"It's up to the airline when they want to impose the carbon fee. We (Mavcom) do not set a price ceiling for the carbon fee for airlines," she said at a media briefing on the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection (Amendment) Code (MACPC) 2024.

On March 6, Mavcom spokesperson told Business Times that the commission had conducted a survey to gather feedback from the public on the implementation of the carbon fee as it reviews the MACPC 2016 code.

"Mavcom acknowledges the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).

"This scheme is a crucial aspect of the decarbonisation strategy and is a significant step towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050," Mavcom spokesperson then said.

On March 4, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said it was up to the local airlines on when they want to start collecting the carbon fee.

However, he stressed that the airlines must have a very transparent mechanism to show how they spend the fee collected.

Loke reiterated that the fee is not a new tax that is collected by the government. Malaysia's move to implement the optional carbon fee collection comes after Singapore announced a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) levy to airlines and travellers to purchase the alternative fuel. 

Pushpalatha said the move to implement airline carbon fee in Malaysia is not mandatory like in Singapore.

"The regime in Singapore is mandatory. Here, we leave it to the airlines. It's not mandatory," she said.

In February, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said the SAF levy collected would be based on various factors including distance travelled and class of travel.

Singapore had announced that all airlines departing the country must use at least one per cent of SAF in its bid to reduce carbon emissions. 

Capital A Bhs's airline unit AirAsia Bhd is one of the airlines that mooted the idea of carbon fee introductory to help airlines offset their carbon emissions.

On Feb 26, the company's chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes called on the governments and aviation regulators in the region to improve their air traffic management as an immediate way to tackle the carbon emissions issue.

He said airlines would burn a lot less fuel if the take-off and landing time are optimised.  

On March 4, Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) told Business Times that it viewed Singapore's decision to impose the SAF levy as a significant step forward in the region's sustainability efforts as SAF remains a critical level in achieving the aviation industry's goal for net-zero emissions by 2050. 

The group also said incentive programmes to foster innovation, increase SAF production and ensure affordability should be introduced following the mandate.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2024/09/1100249/malaysian-carriers-allowed-collect-carbon-fee-mavcom