KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke explained today that unused allocation leftovers from his ministry’s budget will be utilised to provide subsidies for the purchase of one-way economy class flight tickets during festive seasons.

Loke however said that the true cost of subsidies will only be determined when tickets are being purchased from the respective airline service providers.

"They can’t charge us if there is no demand and we will do the calculations, so they cannot deceive us.

"As I have stressed before, this initiative has the Cabinet’s support, even though we do not have a specific allocation from the Budget 2024.

"However, we are adopting a creative approach, redirecting any savings or surplus allocations from our ministry to support this initiative,” Loke told reporters after officiating the FT KL DAP 2023 annual convention at the party’s national headquarters.

He also sought to remedy the misconceptions surrounding the initiative, noting that airline companies are not allowed to set a blanket price for all the tickets.

"We are not capping all tickets at RM599, travellers can still purchase tickets below RM599.

"But if the demand rises and the ticket price exceeds RM600, then we cap them,” he said.

For the initiative, Loke said the unused allocations have been allocated to the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) for implementation.

Asked how long would this initiative continue, Loke replied by saying "as long as the unity government remains”.

On Friday, Loke announced subsidies for the purchase of one-way economy class flight tickets that exceed RM599 from the peninsula to Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan from December 22 to 24 for the Christmas holidays.

He also said the subsidy policy will also be continued in 2024 for other festivals such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Pesta Keamatan, Hari Gawai, and Christmas for three days respectively.