As announced by Transport Minister Anthony Loke yesterday, the flight ticket prices for over 17,000 one-way flights to East Malaysia will be capped at RM300. Malaysia Airlines and Firefly are among the airlines that are participating in the initiative and they have provided details for the fixed fare campaign capped at RM300.
According to Malaysia Airlines, the fixed fares capped at RM300 one-way will be available for purchase beginning 20th May 2023. It noted that the RM300 one-way price cap is not inclusive of government taxes and fees.
For those heading back to Sabah, the capped fares are applicable for travel on 27, 28 and 29 May 2023 to Kota Kinabalu (BKI), Labuan (LBU), Sandakan (SDK) and Tawau (TWU) via Malaysia Airlines and between Penang (PEN) and Kota Kinabalue (BKI) via Firefly.
Meanwhile for flights to Sarawak, the RM300 capped fares are applicable for travel on 29, 30 and 31 May 2023 to Kuching (KCH), Miri (MYY), Bintulu (BTU), Sibu (SBW) via Malaysia Airlines, and between Penang (PEN) and Kuching (KCH) via Firefly.
To cope with the increased demand, both airlines will be operating additional flights during the harvest festival periods from 25 May to 5 June 2023. Malaysia Airlines said it will be mounting 14 additional flights and upgrading one of its services to the wide-body A330 aircraft into Sarawak, while mounting seven additional flights and upgrading two of its service into Sabah.
Firefly will be operating three extra flights between Penang and Kota Kinabalu and two additional flights between Penang and Kuching during the travel period.
Malaysia Aviation Group CEO Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azi said, “We are appreciative of the Government’s support to subsidise airfares to facilitate travels during the Kaamatan and Gawai festive period. As the national flag bearer, we are committed to prioritising the needs of our customers and to ensure that they can fly safely and seamlessly to their destinations onboard Malaysian Hospitality. We hope that through the capped fares, upgraded services and additional capacities, it will provide ease for their travel plans to return home so that they can reconnect with their loved ones during the festivities.”
As announced yesterday, Anthony Loke said the government bought a total of 17,708 tickets from the airlines and they sell them all at a maximum discount price of RM300. He said this pilot project is aimed at solving the problem of expensive flight ticket prices during the festive season and if successful, it will be presented to the Cabinet so that it can be used as an ongoing initiative.
The Transport Minister said the maximum price does not include taxes and fees while iterating that users are still protected under the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC). He revealed that the overall total estimate for subsiding the flight tickets to Sabah and Sarawak is somewhere between RM5.8 million to RM11.4 million.
