Mavcom said it received 2,083 complaints in 1H2024, a drop of nearly one-third compared with 3,063 complaints in the same period last year.

Mavcom executive chairman Saripuddin Kasim said Mavcom’s bi-annual consumer report for 1H2024 also showed that 98% (2,038) of complaints were related to airlines while the remaining 2% (45) concerned airport services.

In a statement, he said that among airlines, Firefly received the highest number of registered complaints with 166 per one million passengers, followed by Batik Air (139 complaints) and AirAsia X (127).

Saripuddin said the top three categories of complaints at airports were flight cancellations, followed by mishandled baggage and flight delays, which together accounted for 42% of the total complaints.

He said Malaysia Airlines, MASwings and Firefly resolved over 90% of their complaints within a 30-day period while airports resolved 89% of their complaints in the same timeframe.

Saripuddin said Mavcom has been actively monitoring airlines and airports’ key performance indicators, such as the airlines’ on-time performance, which requires 85% of flights to depart within 15 minutes of their scheduled time of departure.

“The commission is committed to closely monitoring and assessing the industry’s performance to uphold a high standard of service and consumer protection,” he said.

Additionally, Mavcom continues to implement the Airports Quality of Service Framework to improve passenger experiences at Malaysian airports and remains committed to enhancing the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016.

Sapiruddin said amendments to the code, which took effect on Sept 1, include improved refund rights during flight disruptions and the removal of cancelled flights from all booking platforms.

The amended code also requires airlines to notify consumers of changes to their scheduled time of departure at least two weeks before the actual departure date, except for unavoidable technical problems, from Jan 1.