PUTRAJAYA, Feb 23 — The Transport Ministry (MOT) has reached an agreement in principle to allow airlines to impose additional fees to cover their carbon emission, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
Certain airlines will adopt the fee to purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) while others will pay carbon credit to offset their carbon emission.
“So in short, yes Malaysia will also take certain steps but at this point in time it will not be mandatory for all airlines,” Loke told reporters after the ministry’s Sua Kasih Madani programme today.
He was commenting on Singapore’s decision to impose a green fuel levy on flights from 2026 onwards, and whether Malaysia would undertake a similar decision.
As far as Malaysia is concerned, airlines are encouraged to adapt SAF, however, it comes with a cost.
“… so some airlines have written to the ministry, to request to be allowed to make certain changes for carbon levy, but that is not mandatory for airlines,” Loke said.
Airlines are yet to start the levy as certain amendments would be made under the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).
“It will come with a very minimal cost. Firstly our objective is not to burden the consumer, but on the other hand, we have this obligation, that every country must fulfil this obligation on carbon reduction,” he said.
While it is important to balance between obligation and consumers, Loke added that imposing too much levy would ‘kill’ the industry and discourage people from flying, as well as the economy.
“… so we are making a balancing act while we understand the burden faced by airlines to reduce carbon emission but at the same time, we also do not want to burden passengers. So even if there are charges imposed by airlines, it must be very minimal,” he said.
While MOT allows airlines to adopt different approaches to cover carbon emissions besides the carbon levy, Loke said other measures need to be taken as well, like optimising the airlines’ operational efficiency and air traffic management.
— Bernama
