Netizens outraged over expensive airline tickets on Christmas holidays

24 November 2021

Airline tickets from KLIA to Kuching apparently costs between RM261 to over RM2,000 during the Christmas holiday season.

Malaysians recently found out that it’s supposedly cheaper to take an international flight to London, England than it is to fly domestically to Kuching, Sarawak from Kuala Lumpur on Christmas.

“Cheaper To Fly To London Than Sarawak” Netizens Outraged Over Expensive Airline Tickets On Christmas Holidays
“Cheaper To Fly To London Than Sarawak” Netizens Outraged Over Expensive Airline Tickets On Christmas Holidays

Taking their grievances online, netizens had a bone to pick with just how much local and regional airlines were charging for flight tickets to East Malaysia for the upcoming year-end holiday season.

A Tweet sent by user aripfredo asked Malaysian Airlines to explain why ticket prices from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to the Kuching International Airport was so expensive.

Sharing images of the airline’s booking page, aripfredo made a comparison claiming to show that a standard, direct ‘economy’ class flight to Kuching on 25 December 2021 costs between RM1,499.18 to over RM2,000 compared to a similar flight ticket to London, which only costs RM1,469.

He joked that it was better for him to celebrate Christmas in London which is over 10,000 kilometres away, rather than go back to his home state just 971KMs across the sea.

In reply to aripfredo’s enquiry (and presumably other netizens who were equally triggered by the absurd scenario) Malaysian Airline’s official social media account had this to say:

“Please be informed that our prices are dynamically set based on demand and availability. Prices may vary depending on the dates and times selected. We would recommend that you search on a different date combination to obtain your preferred fare.” – Malaysian Airlines via Twitter

But Malaysian Airlines isn’t the only carrier that’s being taken to task over the issue of expensive flights to the Land of the Hornbills.

Sarawakian singer-songwriter Alena Murang posed the same question on her social media accounts asking why it was so costly to travel with Malaysian Airlines, AirAsia and Indonesian carrier Malindo Air during the Christmas holidays.

She also tagged Sarawakian Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin, and claimed that it was cheaper to travel to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and Langkawi in Kedah than it was to fly to Kuching for Christmas.

“On behalf of all Sarawakians, those working outside of Sarawak and those waiting for their loved ones to come to home. Please reduce the prices or at least give us a logical explanation for the prices,” she pleaded while making a similar joke that she might as well fly to London instead of going home for the holidays.

In her posting, Alena included several screenshots which indicated that flights from KLIA to Kuching between the end of November till late December showed extreme price differences.

From what we could tell, the difference between the lowest-priced ticket (RM261) to the highest-priced ticket (RM2,000) shows almost an eightfold increase.

Source: www.therakyatpost.com

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