Speaking to reporters, he said CAAM currently receives direct government funding but will become financially independent.

He added that CAAM would remain under the transport ministry, but with a high degree of autonomy to provide independent expert advice on technical, scientific, or other complex or sensitive issues.

He also said the proposed merger of the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and CAAM into a single aviation regulatory agency would be tabled at the next Parliament session on June 24.

“On June 5, the Cabinet agreed to table the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Dissolution) Bill 2024 and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (Amendment) Bill,” he told reporters at a press conference here today.

“We want to bring the bill to Parliament first to get approval for the merger of these two entities.”

However, he said the passing of the bill would be a legislative step with the actual merger to take place at a later date.

“After which, there will be further steps to ensure the continuity of operations and functions of these two entities under one roof. It will take a few more months before the merger is complete,” he said.

Loke added that Mavcom would be absorbed into CAAM as its functions include technical regulation, air traffic control and technical training, while Mavcom, the economic regulator, is a smaller entity.

The merger was originally proposed by Loke in 2019 to streamline Malaysia’s aviation oversight. Malaysia is among only a handful of countries with two aviation regulators.