SEPANG: Transport Minister Anthony Loke has announced fixed fares for AirAsia flights to Sabah and Sarawak for the upcoming Chinese New Year, starting at RM298.
For those embarking from Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah during the festive season, the all-in-one-way fare begins at RM348, and to Sarawak, the fixed fare is an affordable RM298.
Loke said the tickets would be available for purchase starting today.
The booking period starts today till Feb 15, and the travel period will be from Feb 5 to Feb 15.
The fixed-fare tickets will apply to routes between Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, Kuching, Miri, Sibu and Bintulu; Johor Bahru to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Sibu and Miri; Kuching to Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, and also Kota Kinabalu to Johor Bahru.
"The fixed-fare air tickets cover the five days before the first day of Chinese New Year, and also the five days after," Loke said, hoping that Malaysians can return home for a reunion with friends and family at a much affordable rate.
Also present at the press conference, the airline CEO Bo Lingam, said AirAsia has mounted 134 additional late-night flights at fixed low fares.
"The fixed low fares are expected to benefit thousands, with around 25,000 seats for this important festive period," Lingam said.
Meanwhile, the minister said this special festive season subsidised price cap initiative would cover more than just Chinese New Year.
"Last month, the Madani government, for the first time, introduced a subsidised price cap of RM599 on flights between East and West Malaysia during festive seasons for the whole year.
"The price cap will apply not only during the coming Chinese New Year but also for Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Kaamatan, Gawai, and Christmas," Loke said.
He said the government paid RM2 million for the last Christmas season, an average RM400 subsidy for 5000 AirAsia passengers to enjoy air tickets fixed at RM599.
He also pointed out that the FLYsiswa programme offers a subsidy of RM300 for public universities, polytechnic schools, community colleges, teachers' training colleges, and matriculation students studying across the South China Sea to purchase economy flight tickets home.
Commenting on whether there is any mechanism to prevent airlines from hiking up the ticket fare, Loke stressed that all the pricing would be monitored by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).
"The airline cannot artificially increase the prices because they have an algorithm and some pricing mechanism. They cannot just hike the price and then claim from the government.
"We (the ministry) know in exact, each particular flight, how many seats are sold at what price, and how many seats they (the airlines) are claiming as we would check with Mavcom," he said.
Loke ensured a thorough audit would be put in place to check all the claims by the airlines and assured that it would be made transparent.
Noting the surging demand for flight tickets as the upcoming Chinese New Year also coincides with the school holidays, Loke said the ministry is ready to support any airline that comes with its own initiatives.
"If they (the airlines) have additional flights, you will have my support as well, and I have made it very clear to Mavcom to facilitate all the requests to the maximum.
"We know that demand is high during festive periods; hence, we want to guarantee the supply (of air tickets) as much as possible. If there is enough capacity, the overall prices will come down; that will be a very healthy competition between the airlines," he said.
Loke said he expects substantial growth for the aviation sector in 2024, both domestically and internationally.
"With a few steps taken by the government, especially on the relaxation of visa requirements for Chinese and Indian tourists, we expect that there will be more robust demand for both Chinese and Indian markets.
"Right now, we are seeing very strong movement within ASEAN as well, from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines," he said.