Govt extends festive season airfare cap to four days, says Loke

The Star

The government has extended the subsidy to cap airfares at RM499 during festive seasons from three days to four days, starting from Christmas this year, said Transport Minister Anthony Loke, adding that the initiative covers flights between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah or Sarawak.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4a58mefp  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Do you have any questions? If you do, please raise your hands and our team will pass the mic to you.

00:30But it doesn't mean that all passengers will be charged the same rate.

00:35If they buy earlier, they may get a lower rate.

00:42But if the rate is higher than RM100, we ask the airline to set the maximum price.

00:51It can't be higher than that.

00:53So, the difference will be compensated by the government through the subsidy paid by the government.

01:00I would like to announce that throughout the holiday season, from Christmas to Labor Day this year,

01:0930,747 passengers have been given this subsidy.

01:16This means that 30,000 people benefit from this maximum rate.

01:23The average subsidy for each passenger is RM406.

01:31So, we spend almost RM12.5 million.

01:35For the upcoming holiday season, as I mentioned earlier,

01:41for Christmas, Chinese New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Labor Day and Labor Day,

01:47for the upcoming holiday season, starting from Christmas this year,

01:54we will continue this initiative for four days.

01:58Why four days? Because we can see that there will be several holidays this year.

02:03It will be on Wednesday or Thursday.

02:07If it is Wednesday, we will start on Sunday.

02:11We know that many people will return on Saturday.

02:15So, we start on Saturday.

02:17On Saturday, on Sunday, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

02:20So, for all holiday seasons, we will continue this year for four days.

02:25Because we expect that more people will return on the weekend.

02:30So, for these four days, we will be given a subsidy

02:34which is to set a maximum rate for airline companies.

02:39So, airline companies will not be affected by the loss

02:44because we will top up the difference.

02:48And we have also lowered the maximum price.

02:53From RM599, we lowered it to RM499.

02:58Which is to lower it by another RM100.

03:01So, this will certainly make it easier

03:05and also a more competitive price,

03:09better and cheaper for passengers.

03:12What are the MOF's recommendations?

03:15The MOF's recommendation to the Ministry of Transport

03:18is for RM48 million for next year

03:21for two initiatives.

03:23The maximum price initiative and the student flight initiative.

03:26We will also continue to provide student flights

03:29which is a voucher for students from Sarawak

03:35who study in Semenanjung

03:37and also students from Semenanjung who study in Sarawak.

03:40That will be approved by the Minister next week.

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