AIR passenger volume is still low as of June with available seats outnumbering bookings by a ratio of almost 2:1, the Ministry of Transport said.

“This is the reason airlines are charging higher fares so as to break even,” it said in a parliamentary written reply.

“At the moment there is more supply than demand at a ratio of 1.9: 1. Consumer confidence in flying is still low, causing the availability of seats to be more than demand.

“Airlines at the moment are operating at 20% of their true capacity,” the ministry said in its reply to Vivian Wong (Sandakan-PH), who asked if the ministry would work with airlines on fixed airfares for the upcoming Hari Raya Haji holiday.

The ministry added that demand for both domestic and international flights had plummeted since March 1, and recorded only 7,500 passengers a day in May 2020, compared to more than 280,000 a day in January.

“The number of scheduled passenger flights has also dropped 94.3% from 8,709 per week in May 2019, to just 493 per week for the same period this year.

“Average passenger traffic per month has also dropped 97.2% from 8.3 million passengers in May 2019, to 232,793 passengers in May this year.” – July 28, 2020.