Transport ministry secretary-general Isham Ishak said the commission would issue a detailed statement on its efforts to look into the reduced fares.
“Some people say the prices (of flight tickets) have increased by 70% but we have managed to reduce the rate and prices have already gone down as of this morning.
“This is because we have managed to increase flight frequency by having the planes redeployed to focus on this (festival) sector,” he told reporters after a ceremony to send off Express Rail Link (ERL) staff to assist the Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro Line operation for the 2022 haj season at KL Sentral today.
Transport minister Wee Ka Siong, at a separate function, said the ministry, Mavcom, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and three airlines — Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo — had reached a decision regarding the price of air tickets during festive seasons.
He said the decision came about after prolonged meetings that began on Thursday (April 14). A formal announcement would be announced soon, he added.
“They have come to a decision and I feel relieved as they have found a solution,” he said after launching the road safety and integrated ops campaign in conjunction with the 2022 Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations here today.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had reminded airline operators not to make excessive profits by raising the price of flight tickets to Sabah and Sarawak exorbitantly during this festive season.
Of late, the issue of flight ticket prices to Sabah and Sarawak has become a hot topic after the price displayed on an airline’s website was said to have increased to RM2,000 for return flights to Sabah or Sarawak, compared to the usual price of RM300 for the same trip.
Meanwhile, referring to the proposal on the establishment of the National Rail Centre of Excellence (NRCOE), as a centre of excellence for the railway industry, Isham said this matter was expected to be approved by the Cabinet soon.
He said the country’s rail transport industry still lacked local expertise and it was hoped that the NRCOE would be able to ensure that the local rail industry development follows Malaysian standard requirements.