KUALA LUMPUR: Increased flight fares to Sabah and Sarawak during festive seasons is not a surprise to Malaysians; in fact, it is an anticipated scenario annually.
With the reopening of the country’s borders and the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, many individuals who have spent the two years staying put where they are due to many restrictions caused by Covid-19 are very much looking forward to returning to their hometowns for the celebration.
Local commercial airlines that provide flight routes from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching offer tickets ranging up to RM300 for return flights during non-festive seasons.
However, Bernama’s monitoring of commercial airline websites recently saw flight fares skyrocketing up to RM2,000 (return flights), which is an increase of around 566 per cent, nearing the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive period (April 29- May 8).
An executive, Fatin Afiqah Yamin, 25, purchased an AirAsia flight ticket to Kuching in early March with the flight set to depart on April 23.
She said she did this is to avoid the high demand for tickets during the festive season where seats are very limited.
“In comparison, the ticket bought for the date mentioned was for RM198, which increased to RM318 when I checked the latest ticket price again, today.
“So (RM318) is still expensive and far from the RM198 that got which is (a) round flight,” Fatin Afiqah said.
On November 27 last year, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was reported to have said that airline companies need to come to a compromise to resolve the issue of high ticket prices to Sabah and Sarawak, especially during the year-end holidays and festive seasons.
However, he said the government understands the constraints faced by airlines due to the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected their operations and profits and would not interfere in the matter of flight fares by setting ceiling prices. – Bernama
