PUTRAJAYA: Transport Minister Anthony Loke today announced additional services for flights, trains and buses in conjunction with the upcoming Chinese New Year festive season.
He said the ministry was aware of the high demand for flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu, with economy tickets completely sold out for three days before Chinese New Year and only business class seats remaining.
"We have asked for cooperation from Batik Air in improving the capacity of flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu.
"Batik Air is introducing a set economy fare of RM399 for a single journey from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu. This special fare is applicable for eight flights on these routes from Feb 6 to Feb 9," he told reporters.
Loke added that besides Sibu, the airline was also offering additional flights to Tawau, and the tickets would be available for purchase starting today.
This initiative, he added, serves as an addition to the fixed fare selections provided by AirAsia, accompanied by Malaysia Airlines' extra 20 flights linking the peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak during the festive season.
For train services, four extra Electric Train Services (ETS) journeys would be introduced by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) on the KL Sentral-Ipoh route from Feb 7 to Feb 13, along with two additional ETS for the KL Sentral-Padang Besar route from Feb 7 to March 10.
Loke said a total of 29,526 extra tickets are being made available to meet the increased demand from passengers during the festive season.
"Two out of the four additional services on the KL Sentral-Ipoh route are express trains that will take only two hours, compared to the regular travel time of two hours and 40 minutes.
"We hope this would encourage the public to use public transportation for a comfortable and safe journey back to their hometowns," he said.
Meanwhile, Loke said the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) will open applications for Temporary Change Permits (LPS) for the festive season from Jan 15 to Feb 2.
"LPS will allow buses of other categories to provide transportation services for passengers returning home during the Chinese New Year season if they meet the specified conditions.
"Last year, this initiative successfully added a total of 296 buses, and it is anticipated that this number will be higher for this year," he said.
Loke said APAD has also reminded all bus terminal operators to augment their staff and ticket counters to effectively handle the higher number of passengers during the festive season.