KUALA LUMPUR – Former transport minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong has pointed to Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) 15th general election (GE15) manifesto in an ongoing debate with his successor Anthony Loke on soaring airfares during the festive season.
Referring to the coalition’s promise to set airfares at RM199 for flights between the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak, Wee claimed that Loke’s explanations earlier today were unsatisfactory as they failed to address several issues.
“We have not even begun to hold PH to (account for) their GE15 manifesto (promising) to ensure RM199 (priced) flights to Sabah and similar flights,” the MCA president said in a statement today.
“Remember also (how) DAP leaders had previously criticised me in recent years when the return airfares for flights between Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak exceeded RM1,000?”
In their election manifesto, PH had promised a student traveller programme which would set airfares at RM199 for students travelling between the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak, with the special fares to be limited to two tickets per year per student.
Wee also argued that the Transport Ministry should be doing more to lower flight prices, especially since many “unsuspecting passengers” use the AirAsia Super App as a “pricing aggregator” to get the best deals.
“If there are allegations of unreasonable price hikes for certain airlines’ tickets on (this) app, isn’t it the responsibility of the ministry and its agencies to check and make sure consumers are not being taken for a ride?
“The fact (is) that prices can still exceed RM1,000 for flights from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau and there are still not enough seats to accommodate demand.
“Can the ministry do more to lower the prices and increase the number of seats so that more Malaysians can pay a lower price and have the chance to return home to celebrate festivities?” he said.
He also said that the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) should investigate ostensible instances of airfares being hiked to RM3,138 on an economy class flight to Tawau from Kuala Lumpur.
Wee’s latest tirade follows remarks by Loke, who is also DAP secretary-general, who hit back against the former, asking Wee to refrain from confusing the public on the process of properly checking prices online.
Arguing that Wee should not be using the AirAsia app to check ticket prices for Malaysia Airlines, Loke said that while he is not disputing his predecessor’s claims, Wee should educate the public on smart checking as a responsible leader.
The Seremban MP said that Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) group chief executive Izham Ismail told him that there is a dispute between the company and AirAsia, where the former had filed an injunction against the latter from selling its tickets online.
Loke and Wee have been trading barbs since the latter expressed his shock and disappointment that a return economy ticket between Kuala Lumpur and Tawau cost RM3,138.
Subsequently, Loke claimed that the price Wee was referring to was for a business-class ticket. Even then, the price offered by MAB for business-class travel is only RM2,863.40, less than the figure quoted by Wee.
Netizens also took the opportunity to deride Wee for using the AirAsia Super App to research the price of MAB’s flight tickets, instead of using the company’s own platform. – The Vibes, April 17, 2023
