Flight prices increase is daylight robbery - Bung

 

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Bung Moktar Radin has described the move by local airline companies to increase flight fares, especially to Sabah and Sarawak during the festive season, as daylight robbery.

He said in a few weeks, Muslims will be celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Sabahans in the Peninsula would want to return home.

Sadly, he said, many would have to cancel their plans as they would not be able to afford the soaring airfares.

“Imagine a one-way economy flight ticket selling at RM2,800 and can go as high as RM3,600... this sort of thing should not be happening, the airlines cannot overcharge passengers unfairly.

"The people of Sabah are baffled by this… the Transport Ministry must intervene and address this issue immediately," Bung said in a statement today.

In addition, he said some airlines have made it a condition that all passengers check in through self-service kiosks and a fee of RM100 will be charged if passengers check in through the counter, which was not fair to the non-tech savvy.

"Airline companies must understand that in Sabah, many still do not own a smartphone and some village folks hardly know how these check in kiosks work," he said.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Bung Moktar Radin

Earlier, Bernama reported local airlines providing flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching were offering tickets ranging up to RM300 for return flights during non-festive seasons.

However, a check on their websites now shows prices skyrocketing up to RM2,000 for a return flight which is an increase of around 566 percent for the April 29 - May 8 festive period.

Yesterday, Chief Minister Hajiji Noor was reported to have urged the federal government through the Transport Ministry to find a way to reduce the price of flight tickets.

- Bernama