Mavcom Chief Operating Officer Azmir Zain said the commission, set up in March, was being funded by the government for the next two years.
After that, he explained, the commission would have to look for its own funding.
Some of the possible funding options are charging passengers a service charge or imposing a fee on airline companies and airports.
“We are exploring all potential avenues for revenue. We have not made any decision yet,” Azmir said.
He was speaking to reporters after the launch of the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Code 2016.
He explained that Mavcom, which is an independent body, would act as an arbitrator between the consumer and the airline during disputes.
“It has been set up to educate airline passengers of their rights. We are an independent body and will look at both sides before making a decision.”
Asked if the commission would bear the cost of legal matters on behalf of consumers unhappy with an airline, he said the commission had not received any case that involved legal matters.
“Due to that, there is no need to look at the legal aspects yet. Even if the need arises, it will be based on a case to case basis.”
Mavcom has so far received 100 complaints from passengers since May. The majority of the complaints were regarding refunds, flight cancellations and lost baggage.
Mavcom’ Director of Consumer Affairs Pushpalatha Subramanian, however, revealed that 95% of the complaints, which were lodged on the commission’s website, launched two months ago, had been resolved.
“We take seven days to review the case. After that the airline is given another 30 days to resolve the issue.”
She said airline companies had been supportive of the commission’s move to look into passenger complaints against any airline flying in and out of Malaysia.
Earlier, Puspalatha said Mavcom had been set up to regulate economic and commercial matters relating to civil aviation.
This included helping passengers get compensation in the event their flight is delayed for over five hours, if they are prohibited from boarding flights or when their luggage goes missing or is damaged, among others.