Raya rush: Public transportation providers brace for high demand

KUALA LUMPUR: Those celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri may have been making plans to return to their respective hometowns to spend the festive season with their loved ones.

At the same time, the country’s public transportation providers are making preparations to receive a high number of passengers and ensure safe travels during the festive rush with the relaxation of some standard operating procedures (SOP) enforced to curb the Covid-19 outbreak following the country’s transition to endemic phase.

AirAsia chief executive officer Riad Asmat said in anticipation of the Aidilfitri celebrations, AirAsia is expected to fly about 75,000 guests and operate 988 flights across all of its five hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Penang, and Johor Bahru.

“Since April 1, we have seen an increase of 20 per cent for AirAsia Malaysia flights for both domestic and international destinations and we are ready to welcome our guests onboard and serve air travellers around the region during this festive period.

“Our domestic services across the group have grown by 156 per cent in recent months due to significant consumer demand, and we expect to return to 100 per cent or more of pre-Covid domestic flights by the end of this year,” he said when contacted by Bernama recently.

He added that in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19, for the past two years, the company has been carrying out efforts to further improve and revamp its flight procedures and contactless travel processes.

“We have successfully migrated 95 per cent of our guests to contactless self-check-in via the AirAsia Super App and the website, an integral initiative that was initiated at the height of the pandemic last year and will continue to be an integral part of the effort to further strengthen our Covid-19 mitigation plan through contactless operations.

“This was achieved through the enhancements made to our systems and our guests embracing them accordingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) chief executive officer Mohd Rani Hisham Samsudin said they are ready to receive passengers that have been increasing every month.

“We are selling a total of 109,891 tickets for the ETS and KTM Intercity services for the travel period between April 23 and May 8. As of April 4, we have sold a total of 35,000 tickets.

“If ticket sales show an encouraging trend, we will also consider adding more trains,” he added.

Mohd Rani also said tickets for the travel period between April 29 and May 1 for the KL Sentral-Padang Besar route are sold out, adding that he advised passengers to purchase their tickets early to enjoy savings and avoid frustrations when tickets are sold out.

“We encourage passengers to purchase their tickets online using the KTMB Mobile (KITS) to reduce human interactions. It is easier, faster and more efficient,” he said.

KwokPing Express Sdn Bhd operations director Sam Sze Wei said they are currently repairing all buses that had not moved for a long time as they expected demands to soar during the upcoming Aidilfitri festive season.

“From what I see, the response is getting better as even people from the Chinese community have started to use our services to return home to celebrate the Qing Ming festival, so I expect the demand for our services ahead of Hari Raya will also be high.

“After the reopening of the borders, many Malaysians returned to Johor and their hometowns,” he said adding that the company provides bus services from Johor to Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam.

Our domestic services across the group have grown by 156 per cent in recent months due to significant consumer demand, and we expect to return to 100 per cent or more of pre-Covid domestic flights by the end of this year.

Riad Asmat