PETALING JAYA: As preparations for Hari Raya festivities intensify this weekend, Transport Minister Anthony Loke visited KL International Airport (KLIA) on Saturday (March 29) night to bid farewell to passengers of a Batik Air flight heading to Tawau, Sabah.
Loke personally greeted passengers of Batik Air flight OD 7908, extending his warm Hari Raya wishes and distributing festive goodie bags as the passengers were waiting to board the flight.
The flight took off at 9pm with 160 passengers onboard.
Batik Air chief executive officer Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy, who was also present at the send-off, later underscored the airline’s commitment to facilitating seamless travel during the festive season.
“This Raya season, Batik Air has significantly ramped up our flight frequencies, particularly on key domestic routes, to offer more travel options for passengers heading home for the celebrations,” he said.
For example, the Kuala Lumpur-Tawau sector alone has seen flights more than doubled, accommodating over 2,700 passengers, in the week leading up to this year’s Hari Raya.
This is a significant increase compared to just over 1,100 passengers accommodated during the same period in 2024.
“In response to growing demand, the number of flights to Tawau has increased to 16 in the week before Hari Raya, a sharp rise from the seven additional flights introduced last year.
“The strong demand was evident on (flight) OD 7908, which operated at full capacity, reflecting the increasing travel needs of Malaysians returning home for the festivities,” Chandran said.
He added that this expansion ensures more families can reunite with ease.
Batik Air has scaled up operations with up to 140 additional flights during the peak travel period, including to Kota Baru, Alor Setar, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Sibu, Sandakan, Tawau and more.
The airline has also offered special all-in, one-way fixed fares to Sarawak and Sabah, operating from both KLIA and the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.
The government has previously extended subsidies on airfares during festive seasons, implementing fixed or maximum airfare of RM499 during those times.
Loke reportedly said the subsidies were extended as it was shown to be effective at addressing the public’s grievances with high flight ticket prices during festive periods.
