KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — The government said today it will not intervene in the setting of prices for domestic flights.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said the Cabinet has not intervened since 2006, when the industry was allowed to reduce or increase prices as it saw fit to remain competitive in the market.

"Since 2006, we’ve allowed the competition to fix the prices. Now with the pandemic and the sudden shutdown of the industry, these companies have had to take a huge loss.

"Even when Sarawak increased the number of flights from 22 to 87, the airlines didn’t want to fulfill these numbers as there were issues with scheduling,” he said in Parliament.

Wee was answering a question in the Dewan Rakyat today from Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen and Papar MP Ahmad Hassan as to the astronomical fare for trips to Sarawak and Sabah, which reached up to RM1,599 for economy class passengers.

Both MPs also highlighted that flight times were constantly being changed.

"Not only that, when [Pakatan Harapan] was in power and the MP for Seremban was the transport minister he negotiated with the airlines to offer cheaper fares during festive seasons,” Kelvin said, referring to Wee’s predecessor Anthony Loke.

"What has happened to this? Any discussion to have special prices as Deepavali is upon us?” Kelvin asked.

Wee replied by saying he feels that things will normalise once the industry gets back on its feet following ease of restrictions throughout the country, with frequency of flights being increased.

"As for during PH’s time and the festive season tickets, we will still leave it up to them as that’s part of their social responsibility,” he said.

Ahmad said the flights normally cost between RM300 and RM500, and if the present situation persists, the average Malaysian could not afford to fly.

He urged Wee to at least set a ceiling price for the time being.

Wee, however, said the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) is in charge of this and it will monitor the situation.

"Mavcom is monitoring and from our observation since November 1, once we move into the new phases and as the frequency of flights increases, the prices will normalise,” he added.