It’s apparent that the travel industry has been decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic and rising airfares have been quite the talk of the town lately. The reason behind it is pretty simple: supply and demand.
Obviously, fewer people are flying these days. That’s the demand side of the equation. But a majority of the world’s jet fleet has been idle for quite some time and possibly for a while more, so while demand has plummeted, so has the supply of airline seats.
With the demand down more than 90%, fare trends have become unpredictable, despite the fact that crude oil prices (which is what jet fuel is refined from) have fallen drastically.
Recently, a local carrier clarified that the recent air ticket price increase involving its flight destinations is due to the current average load factor which is less than 40% for most flights.
In a statement to Malay Mail, the carrier said:
“Airlines drive optimisation of fares based on available capacity and demand. The current fares reflect the current average load factor which is less than 40 per cent for most flights.”
The rakyat is not happy.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that the Transport Ministry is currently in the midst of discussing with local airlines on efforts to try and resolve the issue of expensive tickets for domestic air travel, especially to places like Sabah and Sarawak.
As of now, return tickets for destinations like Miri could go up to a whopping RM2,000!
Hold up –
Lucky for us, AirAsia has decided to extend the sale of its Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia for just another 2 days – which means we have until 15 June to grab it while we can.
Priced at just RM399, pass holders will be able to redeem unlimited flights within Malaysia across 16 destinations for travel right up till March 31, 2021.
Welp! In regards to the outrageous airfares, guess we can only hope for the best for now. Let’s not allow this to distract us from the fact that the virus is still out there and that we need to do everything we can to curb the spread of Covid-19. Stay safe, folks!
Also Read: You Can Fly As Many Times As You Want In Malaysia With Air Asia’s RM399 Unlimited Pass!
