The government will soon announce special flight ticket prices for students of public institutions of higher education (IPTA). This was revealed by Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who specified that this initiative would involve students who need to travel between East and West Malaysia.
That means that the special flight ticket prices will be specifically for Sabah and Sarawak students studying in the Peninsula as well as West Malaysian students studying in Sabah and Sarawak. It’s unclear if the tickets will also be extended to students who need to travel within the same region.
Anthony said that the despite the increase in the number of flights and larger flight capacities, the industry has so far not been able to meet the high demand. Giving flights for the upcoming Hari Raya holiday as an example, he stated that only high-priced business class tickets were left available.
The minister explained that the special flight tickets will be subsidised by the government, although he did not give out any details on the actual pricing or how much it will cost the government’s coffers. He also failed to elaborate on exactly when it will be introduced, but with Hari Raya being a little over a week away, those who have not been able to purchase flight tickets so far can only hope that the special tickets will be up for grabs by next week.
The Transport Ministry has approved over 43% more additional flights this year compared to last year’s Hari Raya period. As of 5 April, it has approved 527 additional flights to cope with high demand.
With dynamic pricing, it has been reported that flight fares to Sabah and Sarawak ranged from RM468 to a whopping RM4,124 for return flights during the festive period. Low-cost airline AirAsia introduced additional Raya flights to East Malaysia at fixed prices but, of course, these seats are limited and do not solve the wider pricing issue.
(Source: Bernama)
