PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Bhd (AAB) has entered into a Passenger Charter and Ancillary Services Agreement with related company AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) whereby AAX will perform passenger charter and ancillary services in relation to the deployment of Malaysian Battalion 850 UNIFIL (Malbatt) to Beirut, Lebanon, for a contract value of RM29.7 million.
In a filing to Bursa Malaysia toAirAsia day, Capital A Bhd said its wholly owned subsidiary AAB was officially awarded the tender for the charter operation for three years from Oct 1, 2023 to Sept 30, 2026 by the Ministry of Defence (Mindef). According to the letter of acceptance, AAB will operate 12 return charter flights four times yearly from the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang (TUDM Subang) to Beirut and vice versa.
The letter also includes ancillary services such as providing accommodation and “Door to Door” services to move the Malbatt forces and civilian personnel including baggage and cargo from their respective bases in Kuantan, Pahang and Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan to TUDM Subang and vice versa.
AAB intends to appoint AAX to provide the charter services based on back-to-back scope of services and arrangement with the agreement between AAB and Mindef. In return, AAB will receive a commission of 3% of the contract sum, amounting to RM891,108.
AAB said the contract was awarded to it pursuant to a tender process organised by Mindef and was open to all Malaysian carriers. One of the requirements to participate in the tender is that the carrier must possess a valid registered account with the Ministry of Finance. As AAX did not have a valid account with the ministry, the tender was submitted by AAB based on AAX’s pricing.
