It said the rationalisation aims to mitigate the issues of overcapacity and low demand for RAS, mainly caused by travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“The rationalisation exercise will ensure the optimisation of RAS routes and improved load factor for a more efficient and effective programme, moving forward,” a Mavcom spokesman told Bernama.

The spokesman said there were no revisions planned to the current ceiling for fares within the RAS network, adding that there was also no reduction in the amount of RAS subsidy allocated by the government.

As announced in Budget 2022, the government will allocate RM209 million for RAS in Sabah and Sarawak, the same amount as this year.

The spokesman said travel restrictions significantly reduced the demand for RAS in 2020 and 2021 and caused operations to be scaled down, with suspended routes and reduced flight frequencies.