Govt mulls incentives to tackle issue of high airfare during festive seasons, says deputy transport minister

KUCHING, Nov 17 — The Transport Ministry is considering introducing incentives to overcome the high cost of flight tickets during festive seasons.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah said the government understood the people’s woes regarding this matter during each festive season, especially for those who live in Sabah and Sarawak.

“We understand that airfares are high now and one of the reasons for the increase is due to the foreign exchange, which affects jet fuel prices and so on.

“(Among the solutions that can be implemented) We will give incentives during festive seasons to overcome this problem,” he said after the launch of the Air Traffic Radar Operation here today.

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Hasbi said the FLYsiswa initiative will also be continued next year to assist students to return home.

In Budget 2024, which was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on October 13, the government announced that the FLYsiswa flight subsidy will continue next year and this involves nearly 60,000 students from underprivileged families especially from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. — Bernama

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