SEPANG: Airlines have been urged to take the initiative to fix fares for the festive season, says Anthony Loke.
The Transport Minister also called on other airlines to emulate this move as it would help Malaysians who currently face increased living costs.
AirAsia announced that it will be operating extra flights at fixed fares for late-night flights to cater for the festive rush between the peninsula and destinations in Sabah and Sarawak from Jan 17 to 30.
"While they are unable to increase flight frequencies due to the shortage of aircraft that is affecting all airlines, we applaud their hard work to add special extra flights at fixed low fares to reconnect families, especially those travelling to and from Sabah and Sarawak.
"I encourage other airlines to emulate this or take any other steps to reduce air fares, especially during festive seasons," he said at the launch of the “Hop On Home with Fixed Fares” campaign at AirAsia RedQ headquarters here on Wednesday (Dec 28).
Under the promotion, passengers can book flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri, as well as from Johor Baru to Kuching, Sibu and Miri at RM199 one-way, and from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Tawau, as well as Johor Baru to Kota Kinabalu at RM249 one-way.
All seats will be available for booking from noon Wednesday.
Promotional fixed fares quoted are for one-way travel inclusive of taxes and fees and are only applicable to the extra flights and specific flight numbers.
AirAsia Aviation Group Limited Group CEO Bo Lingam said the airline decided to fix fares despite the rising operating costs and leaner fleet size.
"Undoubtedly, these last few years have been hard for everyone and even as travel is fast rebounding this year, we are unable to put out as many extra flights as we would like, simply because of the ripple effect of the pandemic.
“However, we remain committed to reuniting Malaysians for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration," said Bo.
AirAsia also announced that there will be special extra late-night flights at fixed low fares with a total of 25,020 extra seats to selected cities in East Malaysia for the upcoming festive period.
Over the years, air travellers have complained of exorbitant fares during festive seasons.
