AIRASIA today announced its participation in the Transport Ministry’s FLYsiswa programme next year to provide affordable airfare to students flying back to their hometowns.
It said the e-voucher for the programme applies to bookings across 45 routes covering ten destinations – Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, Kota Baru on the peninsula, and Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Kuching, Bintulu, Miri, Sibu and Labuan in East Malaysia.
It is also applicable for flights between Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said the FLYsiswa initiative is expected to benefit around 50,069 students currently studying in various public universities nationwide.
“This year, we received more than 23,000 submissions from verified students, about 66% of the 35,994 students who submitted their applications,” he said. “And we are pleased that AirAsia continues to be the top airline choice.”
Transport Minister Anthony Loke had earlier today announced a total of 35,994 or 72% of 50,096 eligible students of public universities have submitted their applications for the RM300 digital voucher under the FLYsiswa subsidy programme.
He said 14,000 eligible students have yet to apply for the subsidy and are advised to do so before the application period closes on December 31.
“Universiti Teknologi Mara has the highest number of students benefitting from the programme at 7,791, followed by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (6,280), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (4,975), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (4,780) and Universiti Malaya (2,267),” he said at the launch of the FLYsiswa programme by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof at Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.
Riad said the announcement by the ministry today comes at the right time as the carrier is set to reactivate more aircraft in the coming months.
“This will allow us to increase frequencies and offer lower fares, ultimately benefiting the students the most,” he said in a statement today.
“We look forward to flying more students to their hometowns with great value fares next year.”
In Budget 2024, tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on October 13, the government announced the FLYsiswa subsidies would remain next year.
It would benefit nearly 60,000 students from underprivileged families, particularly those from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Hasbi Habibollah had said last month the government was mulling incentives for expensive flight tickets during festive seasons.
He said the FLYsiswa initiative would continue next year to help students fly home.
Soaring flight fares are due to aviation fuel price hikes and the weakening ringgit, it was previously reported.
The application process with AirAsia can be completed in a few simple steps by clicking the “Redeem Now” button at airasia.com/aa/flysiswa.
For the redemption process, simply insert the voucher number on the payment page. – The Vibes, December 8, 2023
