KUCHING, April 13 — Sarawak Transport Ministry has written to airlines requesting them to offer more reasonable flight fares to Sarawak, especially during the coming festive period, said its minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin.

"We trust that airlines will reciprocate to the decision made by Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) in approving more flights frequency into Sarawak and that the airlines will play their pivotal role in facilitating the movement of the people and goods at reasonable rates as well as supporting the government’s initiatives to accelerate the revitalisation of our economy,” he said in a statement today.

Lee said with the increase in flight frequency coming to the state, the airlines are expected to offer reasonable flight fares to passengers, and this is more so with the coming of major celebrations in Sarawak namely Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Gawai Dayak where many Sarawakians are expected to return home to Sarawak.

"I was also made to understand that airlines will be running special and limited-time promotion soon for Hari Raya to cater to the increasing demand for flights between Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak.

"We hope Sarawakians residing and working in Peninsular Malaysia will take full advantage of this opportunity and look out for the announcements by the respective airlines soon,” he added.

Lee hoped that the more reasonable flight fares will also help to lighten the financial burden faced by the public since the first movement control order (MCO) was imposed in 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

Nonetheless, he also urged the public to plan ahead their journey for the coming celebrations and purchase their flight ticket in advance rather than buying at the last minute.

"This is because most of the airlines are using the dynamic pricing mechanism in their revenue management where prices will respond to demand as informed by the Malaysia Aviation Commission (Mavcom),” he said.

To-date, Lee said the state government through SDMC had approved 619 flight frequencies weekly into Sarawak, which included international flights from Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

"The main objective is to provide more flights to facilitate the seamless movement of people and cargo especially with the opening of the borders on April 1. This initiative is also critical to re-energise the state economic growth particularly the tourism sector.” — Borneo Post