Exorbitant ticket prices: Wee nudges S'wak govt to allow more flights
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong has nudged the Sarawak government to allow more daily flights into the state to help control the high prices of flight tickets.
Wee (above) said the solution to the exorbitant prices of tickets is to lift the frequency restrictions on airlines to fly to various states.
He said he had written to his Sarawak counterpart Lee Kim Shin on...
Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong has nudged the Sarawak government to allow more daily flights into the state to help control the high prices of flight tickets.
Wee (above) said the solution to the exorbitant prices of tickets is to lift the frequency restrictions on airlines to fly to various states.
He said he had written to his Sarawak counterpart Lee Kim Shin on Nov 18 requesting for the state government to return the decision of regulating air passenger service frequencies to the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), which is a federal entity.
"The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee and Sarawak Transport Ministry had decided to increase the frequency of flights from 223 to 307 flights weekly into Sarawak for Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, AirAsia, Malindo, and Scoot (Singapore), starting Dec 4 to Jan 5, 2022.
"We hope that the state government will expeditiously bring the number back up to 502, as it was before the pandemic impacted air travel," he said in a statement.
At present, the Sarawak government has capped the number of flights into the state as a measure to control the spread of Covid-19.
"Although the Transport Ministry fully understands and aligns with Sarawak’s need to contain Covid-19, state governments and their related agencies must do their part to let market supply and demand prevail and fully allow airlines to increase their air passenger service frequencies based on market-driven operational consideration.
"At the same time, all parties are also responsible for strictly complying with Health Ministry protocols to reduce the spread of infections everywhere," he said.
Wee said he viewed the matter seriously and had also engaged in many discussions to find ways in order to bring the prices of flight tickets down ahead of the holiday season and Sarawak polls on Dec 18.
This included calling a meeting with Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo to impress upon them the need to actively work towards reducing the price of tickets.
"Immediately following this meeting, Malaysia Airlines has pledged to add additional flights to Sarawak in December, which should result in a reduction in fares to the state.
"The government also reminds all industry players to refrain from hiking airfares to address the wide public perception that this is being done by airlines to recoup losses due to the pandemic.
"With this, I urge all parties above to take immediate actions to lower airfares for travellers without the need for the federal government and its agencies to unduly intervene in the operations of these enterprises," he said.
'Carriers need to find middle ground'
Separately, de facto Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said while the government will not intervene by imposing a ceiling price, aircraft carriers are urged to find a middle ground solution that took into account the people's finances.
"A ticket price that is too high will dash the hopes of many families who wished to return to their hometown.
"After nearly two years of being separated by the pandemic, once again they have been denied the right to reunite," he said in a statement.
Wan Junaidi said the increase would also be unfair to Sarawakians who wished to return home and vote as the Dec 18 polling date was only recently announced.
Sarawakians trying to return home from West Malaysia during the holiday and election season have complained that a return ticket can cost as high as RM3,000.
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