KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (pic) has described the move by local airline companies to increase flight fares especially to Sabah and Sarawak during the festive season, as daylight robbery.

       He said in a few weeks, Muslims would be celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Sabahans in the Peninsula would want to return home. Sadly, many would have to cancel their plan as they would not be able to afford the soaring airfares.

       "Imagine a one-way economy flight ticket selling at RM2,800 and can go as high as RM3,600... this sort of thing should not be happening, the airlines cannot overcharge passengers unfairly.

       "The people of Sabah are baffled by this ... the Transport Ministry must intervene and address this issue immediately," he said in a statement on Thursday (April 14).

       In addition, he said some airlines have made it a condition that all passengers check in through self-service kiosks and a fee of RM100 would be charged if passengers check in through the counter, which was not fair to the non-tech savvy.

       "Airline companies must understand that in Sabah, many still do not own a smartphone and some village folks hardly know how these check-in kiosks work," he said.

       Earlier Bernama reported that local airlines providing flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching had been offering tickets ranging up to RM300 for return flights during non-festive seasons.

       However, a check on their websites now show prices skyrocketing up to RM2,000 (return flights) which is an increase of around 566 per cent for the April 29 - May 8 festive period.

       On Wednesday, Chief Minister Datuk Hajiji Noor was reported to have urged the Federal Government through the Transport Ministry to find a way to reduce the price of the flight tickets.- Bernama