KUCHING: Sarawak has reduced the number of flights into the state in view of the rising Covid-19 cases.
Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said the decision was made based on recommendation from the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
Lee said among the reasons to reduce flights into Sarawak were the limited number of hotel rooms available for quarantine purposes, the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases and the imposition of conditional movement control order (CMCO) in Kuching, Sibu and Miri that have been declared as red zones from Jan 13 to 26.
“For overall flight schedule planning, each airline is given a different flight timing to assist the airline to have a better passenger load for their flight.
“This is also critical to assist the airlines in going through this challenging period of Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
According to Lee, the latest information on flight schedule approved by SDMC has been posted in social media for the public to see.
“We trust that the public will be fully aware of the changes in flight schedule to help them to better organise their travel plans during the pandemic,” he added.
He said the ministry had informed MAS, Air Asia, Malindo and Maswings on Jan 14 on the approved flights. The new flight schedule came into effect today.
“I would like to remind all airlines to only sell flight tickets based on the latest flight schedule approved by SDMC. This is important to provide reliable air connectivity or flight services to the public in the state,” Lee said.
He advised the public to book or purchase flight tickets based on the SDMC latest approved flight schedule. They can also check the latest flight schedule at the Ministry of Transport, Sarawak website at mot.sarawak.gov.my.
