Govt to cap domestic airfares
KUALA LUMPUR: The government is in the midst of drafting the ceiling price to control the airfares for domestic flights.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi said through the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM), the ceiling price plan was expected to be completed before the middle of this year.
“We will establish the ceiling price for domestic flight tickets (and not for the international flights), and thus far, we do not control everything.
“However, this time the government will control the fares for domestic flights,” he said this during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Ab Aziz was replying to a question from Oscar Ling Chai Yew (DAP-Sibu) on MAVCOM’s role in controlling the airfares as well as the measures implemented by the government to address the pricey air tickets for domestic routes, particularly the Kuala Lumpur-Sibu stretch during the festive seasons.
Ab Aziz said the move was implemented following complaints received on the expensive flight tickets especially during the festive seasons, apart from the study carried out by MAVCOM that showed five-fold increase of airfares during the period.
He said currently the government did not set any rule regarding the fare and allowed the airlines to set the fare based on their respective commercial decisions.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) said the ceiling price to control the airfares for domestic flights should also be extended to last-minute ticket purchases.
Its deputy president, Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman, said that while the association fully supported the move, the ceiling price should not be limited to peak periods such as school holidays and festive periods.
“We understand that during peak season, the flights are usually full, so there shouldn’t be the reason for them to raise their fares tremendously,” he said.
Mohd Yusof also said it would be good if two ceiling price rates are set for domestic flights: One for commercial airlines and another for budget carriers.