KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has approved 851 additional domestic flights to cater to demand during the Kaamatan, Gawai and Hari Raya Aidilfitri period, beginning today till June 17.
Mavcom chief executive officer Azmir Zain said the additional flights involved Malindo Air, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines, entailing an additional 115,000 seats.
He said Mavcom studies indicated that the 10 most popular routes showed that the prices of tickets were generally lower when compared to last year.
“In general, they are about 12.7 to 74.9 per cent cheaper when compared to June last year during the three celebrations. In line with the needs of consumers who want to balik kampung for their respective celebrations, we encourage airline companies to increase capacity and operations.
“Mavcom estimates that there will be higher demand for flight tickets, especially where Sabah and Sarawak are concerned, during the Kaamatan, Gawai and Aidilfitri period,” he told reporters at Mavcom headquarters.
Azmir said the additional flights involved flights from Kuala Lumpur to Alor Star, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Labuan, Miri, Sandakan and Tawau as well as the Terengganu-Kuala Lumpur sector.
“We admit that the fares for several sectors which we are observing are still expensive, even with the additional flights. This reflects the high demand for air travel during festive seasons relative to the number of seats available, and is an example of dynamic pricing by the airline companies.
“Passengers are advised to plan their journeys, especially during the festive season, and book their flights well ahead of time... they should also choose flight times carefully as there are flights which will be cheaper than others,” he said.
Meanwhile, Azmir said Mavcom had reminded airline companies not to burden passengers with “hidden” charges as this went against the Malaysian Airline Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC).
“Mavcom has amended the MACPC, effective this June, in line with the objectives of the commission to ensure consumer protection. This amendment requires airline companies to be forthcoming and transparent on the final pricing of tickets,” he said.
On another matter, Azmir said Mavcom had received 821 complaints from consumers between July and December last year involving flight delays and cancellations, missing items, damages, missing or misplaced baggage and compensation.
“Mavcom had come up with the ‘FlySmart’ application as a special initiative to educate consumers about their rights. They can surf the official webpage at https://flysmart.my/en/home/ or go to the Facebook
(@FlySmartMY) or instagram (@flysmartmy) pages for information on their rights as well as travel tips.”