Transport Ministry willing to study extra insurance for air travellers

BUKIT KAYU HITAM: The Transport Ministry is willing to study the need of airline companies to offer additional insurance coverage to their passengers to protect them against any untoward incidents abroad.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry was prepared to do so if there was a request from the stakeholders.

He said the matter should be scrutinised as it involved extra costs, besides the fact that most airlines were already offering travel insurance coverage to their passengers.

“We have to study it first to determine the cost for all airlines. We cannot just implement it in haste, we have to study the case.

"Right now, all airlines are offering travel insurance coverage for their passengers,” he told reporters after attending the High-Level Committee meeting on the Security at Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex at the  Malaysian Border Control Agency (Aksem) Complex here.

It was reported that a study on Malaysians' travel trend found that only 34.6% of Malaysians would take travel insurance coverage when travelling abroad or to a challenging location.

That means only three to four of every 10 Malaysian travellers had insurance coverage for themselves and their families in case of any untoward incidents during their trips or while staying in a foreign land.

In KANGAR Liow said MCA was open to discussions with other Barisan Nasional component parties on the possibility of exchanging seats to increase the chances of candidates winning in the 14th general election.

He said seat allocation was no longer an issue and that MCA was satisfied with the seats allocated to the party based on the last general election's quota.

"If an exchange (of seats) is better for BN, then we are willing to do so," he told reporters after meeting with the Perlis MCA committee members.

Also present was Perlis MCA chairman Datuk Chua Tee Yong.

Liow said the party was also satisfied with the efforts taken to strengthen the Chinese support for BN's leadership.

"The biometrics analysis showed that there is an increase in the support for the Government. This is a good sign for BN in facing GE14," he added. - Bernama