Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation has deferred plans to hike air navigation flight charges (ANFC) by a factor of 10 on airlines operating out of Malaysia. Originally scheduled to take effect April 15, the increase will now happen in stages over a still undefined period. It will cover the use of airspace and all other services provided by the agency to the carriers. It will even cover fees for pilots’ licenses.

According to the Minister of Transport Liow Tiong Lai, airlines objected to the plans for the sudden hike and implementation “We have considered this but the hike is inevitable and will be staggered,” Liow said However, he could not identify a time frame for the implementation of the increases.

The DCA, which operates under the purview of Ministry of Transport, last reviewed the fees in 1970.

Under the revised rates, light aircraft up to the ATR 72 will incur charges of 12.5 cents (U.S.) per nautical mile, while narrowbody jets such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 and widebodies such as the A330 and 777 will see an increase from between 2.5 cents and 6.5 cents to between 25 cents and 62.5 cents. The rates for the Airbus A380 superjumbo will jump from 75 cents to $7.50 per nautical mile.

Plans call for the fees for the yearly renewal of air operator's certificates to jump from $100 to $7,500. The initial issue for an air transport pilot license will increase five-fold, to $125, while the yearly renewal will see a similar hike, to $75.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS), AirAsia and Malindo Air, all of which operate scores of daily domestic flights from several airports across the country, stand to suffer the most severe financial effects.

The director general of DCA, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said the agency’s cost for services it provides to the airlines continues to rise as the need for systems upgrades or replacement arises.

The agency has committed $170 million to build a new air traffic control center at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to replace the existing 22-year-old system at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, 15 miles outside the city.

Plans call for the completion of ongoing construction in October 2018 and the start of operations two months later.

The Malaysian DCA has not enjoyed a reputation for particularly effective oversight in recent years. At a recent briefing in Paris, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) director Patrick Ky specifically named Malaysia and Indonesia as two countries in Southeast Asia whose civil aviation authorities do not possess the skills and resources to effectively oversee their rapidly growing airlines.

In fact, a report issued by Malaysia’s own Ministry of Transport to fulfill its obligations under ICAO Annex 13 following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH3170 exposed failures in communications and procedures at Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Area Control Centre (ACC) and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Operations Control Center (OCC). The report revealed that MAS OCC misled KUL ACC by suggesting that the aircraft was still flying, until admitting two hours after it disappeared that they were relying on the Flight Explorer application that was not providing real-time tracking. A source close to MAS told AIN that the OCC did its best to contact MH370 via the satcom systems on other company aircraft during that time.

Not until four hours after the disappearance did KUL ACC alert the KUL Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC). Another hour passed before the ARCC issued the distress message that launched the search for MH370. The report also revealed that the watch supervisor at KUL ACC had fallen asleep while his staff had been dealing with a missing airliner situation for the preceding three hours.