The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) said its latest observation found that most of the domestic airfares during the 15th General Election (GE15) period have decreased when compared to fares recorded after the polling date announcement.
MAVCOM said its review showed one-way average domestic airfares from 16 to 20 November within Peninsular Malaysia was RM185, while within East Malaysia is RM188 and RM296 for routes between peninsular and East Malaysia.
In a statement, MAVCOM executive chairman Datuk Seri Saripuddin Kasim airlines have introduced several promotions and discounts to facilitate voters to travel back to their hometown to perform the civic duty.
“There are also existing discount schemes offered by airlines specifically for student travellers which could aid travel for young voters. As evident, the industry has shown its support to facilitate voters fulfilling their civic duty and returning to their respective hometowns without the burden of high airfares,” he said.
In addition, he said that local domestic flight operators will have more flights for GE15 starting next month.
“The planned additional flights include 45 flights from KL International Airport (KLIA) to selected locations within Peninsular Malaysia. For flights from Subang, 30 additional flights are planned to selected locations within the peninsula.”
“In addition, 68 extra flights have been planned for flights between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia,” the statement reads.
Meanwhile, MAVCOM said that Malaysia Airlines would also increase its capacity to key destinations in Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia by utilising the Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft.
“There are flights planned to selected destinations within East Malaysia under the Rural Air Services programme and five planned additional flights between Subang and Seletar in Singapore,” it added.
MAVCOM then reminded the public that the commission does not regulate airfares but they were determined by airline operators.
Earlier, there were voices from the public that the airfares were too expensive for them to travel back to cast their votes. The rapid price hike came after the Election Commission’s announcement on the polling date.
 said its latest observation found that most of the domestic airfares during the 15th General Election (GE15) period have decreased when compared to fares recorded after the polling date announcement.){kind=link}