With the reopening of the country’s borders and the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, many who have spent the last two years staying put due to Covid-19 travel restrictions had been eagerly looking forward to returning to their hometowns.
Airlines providing flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching had been offering tickets ranging up to RM300 for return flights during non-festive seasons.
However, now their websites show prices skyrocketing up to RM2,000 (return flights) — which is an increase of around 566% — for the April 29- May 8 festive period.
Lily Surianti Suardi, 23, a student from Sabah currently doing a degree programme at Universiti Selangor, said ailrlines should consider fixing separate rates for students furthering studies in the peninsula.
“If the ticket price is about RM1,000, many cannot afford it, more so if the family’s income is low.
“Students like me have to cancel our intention to go home,” she said.
An executive, Fatin Afiqah Yamin, 25, purchased an AirAsia ticket to Kuching in early March for an April 23 flight.
“My ticket cost RM198. It had increased to RM318 when I checked today.
“The RM318 is expensive and far from the RM198 that I got, which is a round flight.”
Facebook user Fandyi Sanizan had posted an appeal on April 6 for local airlines to reduce the price of flight tickets between Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan.
A snapshot in the post showed a one-way ticket by AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan for April 30 costing RM1,049. Another one-way ticket by FireFly for the same route on the same date cost RM1,400.
Posts on a public Facebook group, “Airasia Flight Share Information”, on March 26, showed many had bought their tickets to Sabah for Raya as early as last year.
GJ Musang said: “I bought (two-way) tickets for three persons last year for only RM1,682.”
Another user, Jue Dalilah, said her family bought two-way tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau for all 18 family members in December last year. That cost them RM258 per person (one-way for RM129).
“We have not gone back (to Tawau) for the Hari Raya celebration for a few years now,” she said.
On Nov 27 last year, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had urged airline companies to resolve the issue of high ticket prices to Sabah and Sarawak, especially during the year-end holidays and festive seasons.
However, he said the government understood airlines have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and would not interfere by setting ceiling prices.