The High Court today quashed the decision of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and reinstated the decision dated 31 March 2014 of the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) which imposed a financial penalty of RM10 million each on Malaysian Airlines System Berhad (MAS) and AirAsia Berhad (AirAsia).
 
The case arose from a share-swap and collaboration agreement entered into in 2011 by MAS, AirAsia and AirAsia X Sdn. Bhd.  On 31 March 2014, the MyCC found that MAS and AirAsia had infringed the prohibition under section 4(2)(b) of the Competition Act 2010 by entering into a collaboration agreement, the object of which was the sharing of market within the air transport sector in Malaysia. The MyCC’s decision was overturned by the CAT on 4 February 2016.
 
In its brief grounds in the judicial review case, the High Court held that the CAT decision was tainted with errors of law and unreasonableness.  
 
This is first ever judicial review case in Malaysia arising from an infringement under the Competition Act 2010
 
Our Dato’ Lim Chee Wee, Sharon Chong and Manshan Singh represented the MyCC at the High Court.