Costly trip: Amira Zulkifli checking the airfares to Sarawak on her mobile phone. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
Sarawakians find them too steep to fly back for Gawai
SIBU: Costly airfare is forcing elevator maintenance technician Benedict Manggoi to stay put in Kuala Lumpur and not fly back to Sarawak for Gawai.
“I have been working here for five years. This is the second time that my family and I will have to celebrate Gawai here. The first was due to travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Manggoi, 31, when contacted in Kuala Lumpur.
He could not afford RM1,600 for a one-way air ticket to Sibu for a family of four people – including his wife, daughter and son.
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“Last year, I spent just roughly over RM700 for two-way tickets for the three of us as my son was then in Sibu. I had booked the tickets two months before Gawai, that was why I could get affordable fare,” he said.
This time he did not make a booking in advance as he had just recently moved house.
“My rental contract of five years with the previous landlord had just expired so we have to move. I was extremely busy and also spent quite a substantial sum on it.
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“Yesterday when I wanted to book a flight home for Gawai, I was shocked by the costly airfare. So it is better for us to celebrate Gawai here,” he said.
A parent, Ian Lang Kuntai, has to pay a higher-than-normal air ticket for her university daughter to come back for Gawai.
“Quite tough. I paid RM389 for a one-way ticket. The fare is pretty expensive but what to do,” said Ian, 57.
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His daughter is a student at a public university in Perak.
“Her flight is from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching two days before Gawai. If it is to Sibu, the fare will be higher,” he said.
Ian, who is an educationist, is unhappy that airlines do not even have affordable fares for students.
“What I don’t understand is that the flight is full and yet they put the fare so high. Meaning there is no standard price,” he added.
Muhammad Arfan Wilfred, an Iban Muslim convert, and his wife Khairah Sahat were planning to fly from Kuching to Miri to celebrate Gawai but came across RM600 for a return ticket.
“We usually go back to Miri, where my village is, for Gawai once every two years,” he said.
In view of the high fares, he said they would drive to Miri instead.
Sarawak Dayak Iban Association is urging airline companies to consider giving a very fair airfare to Dayaks to fly home for this important celebration.
Its chairman Munan Laja strongly believes that after the pandemic, many Dayaks who are either working or studying in the peninsula will want to be home with their family in their respective longhouse for Gawai.
“Most Iban longhouses are located in very remote parts of the state that involve high transportation cost to get there. Coupled with high airfare, each family will have to spend RM3,000 to RM4,000 just for transportation,” he said.
Malaysian Association of Hotels, Sarawak Chapter chairman John Teo lamented that Dayaks residing in the peninsula were finding it a huge burden to fly back for Gawai.
“A return air ticket may cost RM600-plus to as much as four figures if the ticket is booked last-minute,” he said.
This issue has been brought up to the state and federal transport ministers, as well as airline operators, on how they should consider lowering the fares.
He said the suggested rate should be around RM160 for one way and “we do hope this proposal can be materialised”.
“With the limited flights being offered between Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia at the moment, we do hope that flight operators will be able to increase flight frequency so that more passengers can travel. The present load for all flights is almost 100% full,” he said.
