Issue of expensive air tickets

With interstate travel permitted during the RMCO, many have found that air tickets
are more expensive compared to the pre-MCO period. Many have complained about
expensive fares for domestic air travel and the issue was a hot topic on social media.
So, today I am here to talk about the reason and the solution for expensive air
tickets.

Malaysia Airlines has clarified that the recent air ticket price increase is due to the
reduced load factors for most of its flights because of the implementation of social
distancing. As part of the SOP, any land, sea, or air public transport is only permitted
to carry not more than half of the total maximum capacity of passengers for each
journey. This also includes ensuring an empty seat between passengers. So, the
airfares are expensive because the implementation of social distancing has forced
passenger capacity to be cut to almost 66 percent. For example, we know that a one-
way ticket could reach almost RM2,000 for a flight from Miri to Kuala Lumpur.

The solution to this issue is increasing the flight frequencies. The government today
told three airlines to reduce their fares and increase flight frequencies following the
relaxation of social distancing rules for air travel under the recovery movement
control order (RMCO). Following concerns raised by the public on air ticket high
prices, our Transport Ministry is discussing with airlines to try and resolve the issue of
expensive tickets for domestic air travel, especially to Sabah and Sarawak.
Hopefully, this issue can be solved as soon as possible as the slogan of Airasia goes
as now everyone can fly.