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Kuala Lumpur: Former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong on Tuesday called for local airlines to implement and offer additional flights and cheap return airfares between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak during the coming festive seasons.

In his Facebook post, Wee said a few months ago, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) had met and discussed with local airlines to add additional flights during midnight and that the Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) has been recommended to extend their operations, which has been agreed in principle.

“Very soon we will be celebrating Chinese New Year and after that, Hari Raya Aidilfitri. We hope that MAS, Air Asia, Batik Air and a new local airline, MyAirline, which started its operation in December 2022, can implement these suggestions and offer cheap airfares during festive seasons.

“Adding capacity and the number of flights during peak season is an effective step to overcome the congestion and reduce the airfares.

“Certainly, this measure has been anticipated by the people, especially air passengers who wish to return to their hometown for happy occasions with their families and loved ones,” he said.

We said he was confident that this can be executed, especially with the new Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Complex (KLATCC) which will increase the movement of flights at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and KLIA2 to 108 movements an hour with the simultaneous use of three lanes compared to only 84 movements an hour with only two lanes previously.