SANDAKAN: More calls are being made for the Transport Ministry to step in to address flight costs between peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, which have tripled or even quadrupled ahead of the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities and school holidays.
"It is just too expensive, nothing is being done even after we raised the matter in Parliament," Sabah Barisan Nasional's Libaran MP Datuk Suhaimi Nasir said.
He said local airlines provide three direct flight routes to Sabah from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan and Kuala Lumpur to Tawau, offering round trip tickets ranging from RM300 to RM600 during the non-festive season.
"But when it comes to the festive season, flight tickets soar to RM2,000 for a one-way flight. This greatly burdens Sabahans who want to return to celebrate Aidilfitri with their families," he said.
Suhaimi said that during the just concluded general election, Pakatan Harapan's Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedict had pledged to get round trip tickets for RM199 if the coalition wins.
Now that Ewon has been appointed Entrepreneurship Development and Cooperatives Minister, he should bring it up in Cabinet and push for the price of air tickets that was promised in his manifesto.
"Why not voice the issue of airline ticket prices that are now too high to the knowledge of the government? We ask this Penampang MP to fulfil the promise of a ticket price of only RM199 one way for the benefit of the people of Sabah", he added.
Suhaimi, who is Sabah Umno information chief, said that he was very disappointed with the Transport Ministry for not taking action to reduce prices despite the issue being raised repeatedly in Parliament.
"It is not a new matter, they are not taking it seriously. Various suggestions have been submitted in Parliament to the ministry on the issue of flight price increases that are too high.
"We had also suggested for the ministry to implement ceiling price controls on flight tickets to reduce the burden on the people and students studying in the peninsula", Suhaimi said urging the minister, Anthony Loke, to implement the measures to keep prices reasonable.
Making a similar call, Parti Warisan's Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong said that the current airfare prices did not make sense and it would definitely put a damper on the Aidilfitri holidays as many cannot pay the price.
