Flight frequencies up, airfares down, Mavcom says ahead of polls

The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has found that most domestic airfares during the travelling period for the upcoming polls have dropped after the high increase following the announcement on election dates.

Mavcom said based on its review, the average one-way domestic airfare across all airlines for routes within Peninsula Malaysia was RM185.

Meanwhile, the average airfare within East Malaysia was RM188 and RM296 for routes between the peninsula and East Malaysia.

Mavcom executive chairman Saripuddin Kasim said the airlines had introduced promotions and launched discounts on airfares to facilitate this cause.

"There are also the existing discount schemes offered by the airlines, specifically for student travellers to facilitate travel for young voters.

"The industry has shown its support to enable voters to fulfil their civic duty without the burden of high airfares. However, more can be done and the airlines must continue to play their part for the nation during this critical period," he added.
 
The Election Commission has set Nov 19 for polling, Nov 15 for early voting and Nov 5 for the nomination of candidates.

According to the statement, the planned additional flights include 45 from KLIA to selected locations within Peninsular Malaysia.

For flights from Subang, 30 additional flights are being planned to selected destinations within the peninsula and 68 extra flights between the peninsula and East Malaysia.

"Malaysia Airlines also plans to increase its capacity to key destinations in the peninsula and East Malaysia by using the Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft.

"In addition, 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," Mavcom said.