SEPANG, Feb 8 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the two-day toll exemption beginning today, in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration, is to ensure everyone plans their trip back to their hometowns in the best possible way.
He said the original plan was for the exemption to be on February 9 and 10 but this has been brought forward since not many return to their hometowns on the eve of the Chinese New Year.
“The toll-free travel was discussed at the Cabinet meeting and the Transport Ministry suggested to the Works Ministry to implement the toll exemption two days before the celebration.
“The original (dates) were February 9 and 10 but we all know that on the first day of the Chinese New Year, not many go back as most would have returned to their hometowns by then,” he told the media seeing off the departure of AirAsia passengers on a special late night flight with fixed fares from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 2 last night.
Also present were Datuk Captain Chester Voo, the deputy group chief executive officer (airline operations) of AirAsia Aviation Group.
Loke expects traffic to be heavy from today and asked the public to plan their journey to avoid traffic congestion, besides advising them to be careful on the road and not to tire themselves by driving for long periods.
On AirAsia’s late-night flights with fixed fares, he said the government appreciated AirAsia’s commitment to always offering more value fares to their customers with low fixed fares, including late-night flights to Sabah and Sarawak.
Loke said the initiative benefited 22,000 passengers and allowes Sabah and Sarawak folks to return to their hometowns to celebrate Chinese New Year.
He said the government also appreciated the contributions and sacrifices of workers in the airline sector, including airport operators, air traffic controllers and ground handling crew members who played a vital role in ensuring the late-night flight initiative proceeded smoothly.
— Bernama
