The government should cancel the monopolistic collaboration between Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Air-Asia and allow head-to-head competition between the two airlines.

Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong said by doing this, thousands of Malaysians can avoid further hardships, as they have already suffered in the form of flight cancellations.

He cited the complaint by Johor Baru MP Shahrir Samad reported earlier this week that MAS subsidiary Firefly had cancelled a number of flights from Senai Airport, including to Kuching, Surabaya, Bandung and Bangkok. which he said were a result of the tie-up.

“According to Shahrir, thousands of people who had booked seats on these flights were extremely dismayed,” he said.

“The MAS-Air Asia collaboration announced on August 9 is indeed proving to be terrible for Malaysian consumers and air travellers,” said Liew in a statement.

After flight cancellations, Liew warned that travellers will next face higher airfares as a result of the tie-up, which he blamed partly on government-linked companies Khazanah Nasional Bhd and CIMB, among others.

It is the GLCs are creating “an airline cartel” who are behind the higher fares and less frequent flights, he added.

Calling for the dissolution of the collaboration between MAS and AirAsia, Liew said competition between the two would only benefit consumers and the airlines themselves.

“We should grow the talent pool of Malaysian aviation experts. Let consumers benefit from more choice. Let the economy benefit from more activity.

“Following this, there is no need for Air Asia chief executive officer Tony Fernandes to be involved in MAS.

They should unshackle Fernandes and newly appointed MAS CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahaya -  who had transformed Malakoff Berhad into one of Malaysia's largest independent power producer - and let them compete head-to-head, said Liew.

Following the share swap deal inked last August, Fernandes is now a director in MAS.

“Competition can only make Air Asia and MAS stronger.”

With Firefly gone as a competitor for low cost routes passengers, what will prevent Air Asia from increasing its prices, asked Liew.

“It is not just the air travellers who are hurt. Fewer air travellers also leads to less economic activity,  there will be less demand for taxis, hotels and all the other things travellers want, besides less opportunities for entrepreneurs to meet and create new business,” he emphasised.

“Let Fernandes compete head-to-head. Many ordinary Malaysians will benefit,” he said.