PUTRAJAYA: Those who have bought Malaysia Airlines (MAS) economy class direct flight tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau at RM3,138 have been asked to bring them to Transport Minister Anthony Loke. He said the average ticket prices for an economy class direct flight to Sabah ranged from RM200 to RM800, depending on the time when they were bought.
“For those who have purchased the tickets at RM3,138, please bring them to me.
“We will definitely investigate if that is the case,” he said, following complaints about discrepancies in airline ticket classification and prices for Kuala Lumpur-Tawau flights.
On Sunday, former transport minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said he had received complaints that economy flight tickets for Kuala Lumpur-Tawau on April 20 for MAS were exorbitantly priced at RM3,138 on the airasia Super App.
However, the MAS app had classified the price of that ticket under business class.
Loke told a press conference yesterday that MAS tickets bought through the airasia Super App were still valid.
MAS, he added, was currently seeking an injunction against airasia Super App for offering MAS flight tickets for sale online.
“I was informed that MAS never authorised AirAsia to sell their tickets on its behalf. That is why we ask to check multiple sources or the MAS app (for flight ticket prices),” he said.
On the sale of airline tickets by third parties through online travel agents (OTAs), Loke said this was done by several other platforms. However, he acknowledged that this could lead to confusion among consumers owing to airline tickets being sold at a higher cost by the OTAs.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Dr Wee wanted to know what the ministry could do to bring down prices since flight tickets to Tawau were still costing above RM1,000.
“The fact that prices can still exceed RM1,000 for Kuala Lumpur to Tawau flights and there are still not enough seats to accommodate demand, can the Transport Minister do more to lower the price and increase the number of seats so that more of our Malaysians can pay a lower price and have the chance to return home to celebrate the festivities?” he said.
Dr Wee said many consumers used apps such as the airasia Super App to find deals.
“I take note that Loke says that MAS did not authorise AirAsia to resell MAS flights. However, many unsuspecting passengers use apps such as this to compare prices to get the best deal.
“Let’s be clear here: many consumers use the app as aggregators of pricing for air tickets, in the same way that they use websites such as Agoda and Booking.com to find hotel rooms.
“If there are allegations of unreasonable price hikes for certain airlines’ tickets on these apps, isn’t it the responsibility of the Transport Ministry and its agencies to check and make sure consumers are not being taken for a ride?” he said.
