Increase in flight fares will be investigated - MOT

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said he conveyed the matter during a special meeting chaired by him yesterday, which also involved MAVCOM, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and domestic airlines.

He said the meeting was held to find solutions following public complaints on increase in flight fares between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, as well as Sarawak, in conjunction with the Aidilfitri celebration.

Wee said CAAM had approved the extension of the operating hours of air traffic control services at the required airport and assisted the airlines in planning for the additional capacity, especially with the approaching festive season.

"MOT is committed and will make every effort to reduce air fares to ease the people's burden. MOT, through MAVCOM, will inform the public on the outcome of discussions with the airline companies soon," he said in a statement today.

According to Wee, based on monitoring conducted by MAVCOM, airfares on April 30, 2022 (peak travel date for the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive season) have increased compared to the average airfares in 2019.

"This increase is due to increased operating costs, especially the increase in jet fuel prices, as well as limited resources for airlines to increase full capacity.

"The dynamic pricing mechanism also uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the process of determining the fare price, " he said.

He said the airline companies also had problems to increase flight capacity immediately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the aircraft needed to go through a process of maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO) before they can be approved for safe service.

Wee said for April 2022, the frequency of flights to Sabah and Sarawak was still low, at only 68 percent compared to 2019.