KUCHING: The open sky policy will bring down the cost of travelling between east and west Malaysia as it allows foreign airlines to operate in the country.
It is thus appropriate that the federal government give serious consideration to adopting and implementing the policy, said Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How, claiming the call echoed the wish of the people and corporate sector.
At a press conference here yesterday, the state PKR vice-chairman said the open sky policy would allow competition that would ultimately bring down the cost of travelling, hence encouraging more interaction between the two parts of the country.
On the 10,000 free seats offered under the 1Malaysia Integration Programme announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Saturday, See viewed the offer as nothing but converting a commercial promotion into a cheap political gimmick in view of the upcoming general election.
“Out of the 22 days in between Jan 14 and Feb 4, with 62 flights a day, there will be 1,364 flights which will be more than 245,520 seats.
“The 10,000 free seats offered for this period are just 4.07 per cent of the total available seats,” he said, pointing out the figure was simply negligible and insignificant.
“That is two seats out of every 1,000 seats. Such contribution is not even a fraction of their (AirAsia) requisite corporate social responsibility, considering the national low-cost carrier’s monopoly in the air travel industry,” he claimed.
See said it was indefensible for the federal government to claim that the offer was to promote national integration, when in financial terms it was nothing close to AirAsia’s financial contribution to the English Premier League by sponsoring Queen’s Park Rangers.
“The 10,000 free seats, which potential travellers must be forewarned that their return journey is not free, and therefore the 1Malaysia Integration Programme is therefore a cheap political gimmick,” he added.