Its president Mohideen Abdul Kader said Mavcom must remain to ensure that the rights of airline passengers are upheld.

He added that complaints from passengers often went unresolved prior to Mavcom’s formation.

“To CAP, an association that hears and handles consumer complaints, we know that Mavcom is a boon to airline passengers.

“When CAP or the passengers themselves brought these complaints to their attention, the airline companies had no problem shirking their responsibility because they did not have to answer to anyone and there was no dedicated avenue for airline passengers to forward their grievances,” he said in a statement.

He also suggested that Mavcom is frequently attacked as airline companies no longer have the “freedom to do as they wish” at the expense of passengers.

“After all, let us not forget that Mavcom not only oversees the operation of airlines, it has also set certain standards for airports; standards that, if not adhered to, will result in penalties.

“Yet clearly the opposition to Mavcom is coming from airline companies and not airports,” he said.

Last month, Fernandes said Mavcom had failed the aviation industry by failing to execute its duties fairly and effectively. He also said its functions could be assumed by other bodies, including the transport ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia.

Last week, he hit out at Mavcom over reports of long queues at the klia2 immigration counters, saying he had informed them of the matter a month ago but received a disappointing response.

Mohideen said Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook had apparently failed to see Mavcom’s benefits to airline passengers and accused him of succumbing to pressure from aviation companies.

“We ask that all parties involved put an end to the calls to abolish Mavcom and instead work on bettering their operations so that airline passengers do not have a reason to complain,” he said.