20-6-2023 (KUALA LUMPUR) A post sharing a screenshot of a single flight ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan with a staggering price of over RM70,000 has caused a stir among netizens.
The Facebook page “Kami Orang Asal SABAH BAH Tapi Tinggal di Semenanjung” (We’re Natives of Sabah but Living in the Peninsula) uploaded the screenshot yesterday, which is believed to be related to the ticket prices of two Malaysia Airlines flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan, as found on the airasia SuperApp mobile application.
According to the screenshot, both flights have the same departure date and time on the 16th of this month at 9:00 PM. The flights have layovers in Kota Kinabalu and Lahad Datu, with a total duration of 13 hours and 10 minutes, arriving in Sandakan the next morning at 10:10 AM. The only difference between the two flights is the duration of layovers in Kota Kinabalu and Lahad Datu. Each ticket is priced at RM70,363. This expensive flight ticket issue garnered over 580 shares in a short period of time, with some netizens joking that only tickets to the moon would cost that much.
Other netizens made playful remarks, suggesting that the flights take a detour around the Earth in the opposite direction before reaching Sandakan, hence the exorbitant ticket prices. However, many internet users expressed disbelief.
If we search for one-way Malaysia Airlines tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Sandakan on the same date, with layovers in Kota Kinabalu and Lahad Datu, and arriving at the same time the next day, the ticket price is only RM2,022. In April this year, Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook mentioned that Malaysia Airlines had applied for a ban on the airasia SuperApp from selling Malaysia Airlines tickets.
Earlier, Loke Siew Fook stated that using the airasia SuperApp to check Malaysia Airlines ticket prices was unreasonable, comparing it to going to McDonald’s to buy KFC.
