Kuala Lumpur: A total of 17,708 one-way flight tickets from the peninsula to Sabah or Sarawak were sold at a maximum price of RM300 in conjunction with the Kaamatan Festival and Hari Gawai.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the special price was offered by all domestic airlines for the travel periods on May 27, 28 and 29 to Sabah and May 29, 30 and 31 to Sarawak.
“Travellers can still buy tickets at a lower price if the original ticket price is less than RM300.
“The Government bought (a total of 17,708 tickets) from the airlines and we sell them all at a maximum discount price of RM300,” he said at a press conference after the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) Hari Raya celebration at its Kuala Lumpur station, here, Thursday.
According to Loke, the pilot project is aimed at solving the problem of expensive flight ticket prices during the festive season and, if successful, it will be presented to the Cabinet so that it can be used as an ongoing initiative.
Loke said the maximum price does not include taxes and fees, but with the purchase of the ticket, users will be protected according to the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC).
He said the overall estimate for subsidising the purchase of flight tickets to Sabah and Sarawak throughout the period offered was between RM5.8 million to RM11.4 million.
According to Loke, following the sale of flight tickets for the Johor Baru-Sibu route for the three days before Hari Gawai celebration, Batik Air will provide a special charter flight service with a frequency of once a day on May 29, 30 and 31
Meanwhile, Loke said a total of 10,744 electric train service (ETS) tickets and 499,323 KTM Intercity tickets had been sold up to 9pm on Wednesday out of 4.4 million tickets offered for travel from July to December 2023.
He said the ticket sales, which began on May 15, also involved the dates of national festivals such as National Day, Malaysia Day, Deepavali, Christmas and school holidays.
“2,043 tickets for the two additional ETS services of the KL Sentral to Padang Besar route and vice versa for May 26 to June 5 journey in conjunction with the first term school holidays and public holidays have also been sold.
“This proves that Malaysians appreciate the public transport provided by the Government, especially the service provided by KTMB which is safe and comfortable to get to their respective destinations,” said Loke who also reminded the public to always plan their journeys.
