CONVERGENCE NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016
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Qatar Airways bags Best<br />
Business Class and Best<br />
Middle Eastern Airline awards<br />
Renowned high-quality service airline Qatar Airways was<br />
awarded Best Business Class and Best Middle Eastern Airline<br />
at the Business Traveller Awards <strong>2016</strong> held in London, recently.<br />
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker said:<br />
"We are proud to have once again been recognised as the<br />
Best Business Class and Best Middle Eastern Airline. These<br />
awards continue to demonstrate our commitment to provide<br />
our passengers with industry leading service, a modern fleet<br />
of aircraft and innovative products to provide our passengers<br />
with the very best journey."<br />
The Best Airline Alliance was also presented to Oneworld,<br />
which Qatar Airways has been a member of since 2013.<br />
The awards ceremony has been running for over 30 years and<br />
the winners were voted for by readers of the international<br />
magazine.<br />
MAVCOM has revised PSC rates for all airports within the<br />
country notably introducing a new and lower PSC tier for travels<br />
to ASEAN countries from major airports in Malaysia, making<br />
Malaysia the pioneer ASEAN country to introduce such a tier.<br />
The rates were revised to gradually provide equalisation of PSC<br />
at KLIA and klia2 to facilitate a level playing field to be introduced<br />
in stages with an immediate equalisation of PSC for domestic<br />
and ASEAN flights and a reduction in difference of the<br />
international (beyond ASEAN) PSC between KLIA and klia2.<br />
Airlines<br />
At the Skytrax World Airline Awards <strong>2016</strong> recently, Qatar Airways<br />
accepted three separate accolades. Air travellers chose Qatar<br />
Airways as the World's Best Business Class, Best Business<br />
Class Airline Lounge and the Best Airline Staff Service in the<br />
Middle East. The consumer-voted awards recognised the<br />
airline for its commitment to offer passengers an unrivalled<br />
travel experience.<br />
The airline offers Business Class passengers with seats that<br />
recline into fully lie-flat beds, all aisle access seating and an a<br />
la carte menu served on request by an award winning crew<br />
with up to 3,000 entertainment options on individual television<br />
screens.<br />
Meanwhile, Premium passengers have access to a range of<br />
luxury lounges such as the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan Business<br />
Lounge in Doha, Heathrow Premium Lounge and DXB Premium<br />
Lounge in Dubai, all of which offer a selection of fine dining<br />
options and world-class facilities.<br />
New Passenger Service Charges (PSC)<br />
beginning 2017<br />
Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) reduces PSC from RM65 to RM35<br />
for flights to any ASEAN destination<br />
Next year, the PSC rates will be reviewed again for complete<br />
equalisation.<br />
The revised rates will come into effect on 1 January 2017 and<br />
would be applicable to tickets issued from that date onwards.<br />
Tickets issued before 1 January 2017 will not be subjected to<br />
the new rates even if the date of travel takes place on or after<br />
1 January 2017.<br />
Current PSC (RM)<br />
Revised PSC,<br />
effective 1 January 2017 (RM)<br />
Domestic ASEAN International Domestic ASEAN<br />
International<br />
(excluding ASEAN)<br />
KLIA<br />
9<br />
65<br />
65<br />
11<br />
35<br />
73<br />
klia2<br />
6<br />
32<br />
32<br />
11<br />
35<br />
50<br />
Other airports<br />
9<br />
65 / 26*<br />
65<br />
11<br />
35<br />
73<br />
Source: MAVCOM<br />
Rates are inclusive of the Passenger Security Service Charge<br />
* Special rate for departures from secondary domestic airports excluding KLIA, klia2, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Langkawi and Johor<br />
Bahru to ASEAN destinations or to points in BIMP-EAGA and IMT-GT.<br />
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