PUTRAJAYA: A solution to the problem of high festive-season air fares has been found after 72-hour-long talks involving airlines and aviation authorities, transport minister Wee Ka Siong said today.
The decision came about during a meeting that began on Thursday. Details would be announced soon, he said.
The talks involved the ministry, the Malaysian Aviation Commission, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo.
‘They have come to a decision and I feel relieved as they have found a solution,” he said at a media conference after launching a road safety campaign in conjunction with the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.
The issue of air fares to Sabah and Sarawak has become a hot topic recently with prices on airline websites reaching almost RM2,000 for a return flight to Sabah or Sarawak, a 566 per cent increase compared to the usual RM300 price for the same trip.
A screenshot that went viral showed that the price for a flight to Tawau, Sabah from Kuala Lumpur on May 2 was RM3,208.96 for economy class and RM3,617.09 for business class.
Transport ministry secretary-general Isham Ishak said however that ticket prices have dropped by over 30%.
Wee said his ministry was ready to cooperate with all parties to overcome the trend of rising air fares that was said to be affecting not only Malaysia but other locations as well.
- One-way fares between RM105 and RM1,398 -
Wee said economy class one-way fares to Sabah and Sarawak had dropped significantly, for flights between April 27 and May 8.
He said Mavcom had observed that the economy class one-way fare for April 27 to May 8 was between RM105 and RM1,398, while for the peak period of April 29 to May 1, the one-way fare ranged between RM195 and RM1,398.
“The majority of flight tickets available for one-way economy class routes are only between RM300 and RM500,” he said in a statement today.
Wee said that on April 14, the fares ranged from RM105 to RM2,084, while for the peak period the range was from RM195 to RM2,084, with the majority of ticket prices ranging between RM700 to RM1,200.
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