AirAsia agrees to increase flights, says Sarawak Transport Minister

KUCHING: AirAsia has agreed to increase flights following the reduction of flights by Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), says Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin.

The Sarawak Minister for Transport said that the agreement was reached during a discussion between him and AirAsia director of Sarawak Affairs, Hamdan Mohamad, Wednesday (Sept 25).

This was a countermeasure taken by Lee in response to MAG’s recent reduction in flights by its subsidiaries Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, and Amal, as the flight reductions had significantly affected the Sarawak routes.

“AirAsia will also use a wide-body Airbus A330 with 377 seats to fly between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching daily from Dec 20 to Jan 6, and from Jan 17 to Feb 10 to cope with the surge in passenger demand during the festive season,” he said in a statement, Thursday (Sept 26).

Lee pointed out that, according to a letter from MAG, the group’s Malaysia Airlines flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, Miri, Bintulu, and Sibu, as well as Firefly flights from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching, Kuching to Miri, and Penang to Kuching, will be reduced substantially.

“I am pleased that AirAsia has taken positive measures to increase flights to meet the needs of the Sarawak market,” he added.

He said that, according to AirAsia, there were 359 flights weekly on Sarawak routes in August, which increased to 364 flights in September. However, due to the off-season in October, it will be slightly reduced to 356 flights. In November and December, it will increase to 384 flights and 406 flights, respectively.

“In addition, AirAsia will deploy a wide-body Airbus A330 with 377 seats to fly between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching daily from Dec 20 to Jan 6, and from Jan 17 to Feb 10 to meet the high passenger demand during festive seasons,” he said.

It is understood that the Airbus A330 is AirAsia’s medium- and long-range wide-body aircraft, capable of accommodating 377 passengers. AirAsia typically uses it for international routes such as Dubai, Sydney, China, Tokyo, and Seoul.

Meanwhile, Lee also addressed several issues faced by the people of Sarawak, particularly the high airfares.

Therefore, he urged AirAsia to consider implementing a ceiling price policy for flight fares within Sarawak and between Sarawak and West Malaysia.

Besides AirAsia, the Ministry has also contacted Malaysia Airlines and Batik Air for a meeting with the Minister to deliberate on the matter.

Also present were Deputy Minister for Transport (Aviation and Road) Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, permanent secretary Datuk Wong Hee Sieng, aviation technical advisor Sio Yew Hua, and head of the Aviation Division, Zulkarnain Rosli.

The flight reduction made by MAG.