Increase night flights to reduce airfares in East Malaysia, says Loke

 

Former transport minister Loke Siew Fook said the airports would need to operate late into the night as well.

PETALING JAYA: Former transport minister Loke Siew Fook says the best way to lower airfares for Sabah and Sarawak is by increasing late-night flights days before the country goes to the polls.

He said this could only be done if airport operators, airline companies and the government worked together.

“If we want to increase flights at night to Sabah and Sarawak, the airports need to operate late into the night as well.

“This requires a comprehensive approach, one that involves airlines and the government to work together to come up with such a policy,” he said in an interview with Astro Awani.

He added that airlines had a limited capacity and set flight schedules, making it difficult to increase flights.

“In my view, the best way to lower flight prices is to increase late-night flights a few days before election day to meet the demand,” he said.

Loke, who is also DAP secretary-general, said airlines could be encouraged to carry out more late-night flights to help lower the costs.

In October, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) said airfares for domestic flights during the GE15 period would be lower compared with the fares recorded after polling day was announced.

Previously, consumers had complained on social media that flight ticket prices were too expensive for them to travel back to their hometowns to cast their votes.

Some netizens complained that the prices of flight tickets had soared following the Election Commission’s announcement of the polling date on Nov 19. - FMT