Kota Kinabalu: The Federal and Sabah governments are urged to urgently establish a Sabah Air Connectivity Resilience Plan to protect Sabahans amid renewed concerns over airline financial pressures, high jet fuel costs, route suspensions and capacity cuts.
Parti Warisan Supreme Council member Chen Ket Chuin @ KC, said the issue should not be viewed as a corporate bailout for any airline, but as a matter of protecting Sabahans who depend on air travel for work, education, medical treatment, business and family travel.
“AirAsia has stated that it has about RM1 billion in cash and is not seeking a government bailout. That is welcome. But Sabah’s concern is wider than one company’s balance sheet.
“The question is whether Sabahans can continue to fly at fair, reliable and affordable prices,” he said in a statement, Friday.
Chen said Sabah’s geographical position meant air travel was an essential connection to the rest of Malaysia.
“Sabah is not the Klang Valley. We cannot drive to Kuala Lumpur. We cannot take a train to the peninsula. For Sabahans, air travel is not a luxury — it is our highway to the rest of Malaysia,” he said.
He said recent reports on AirAsia’s financial position highlighted how Malaysia’s domestic aviation system could be affected by fuel price shocks, foreign exchange pressures and operational disruptions.
“Fuel shock becomes fare shock. Fare shock becomes Sabah connectivity shock. That is how these pressures can affect Sabahans,” he said.
“When airlines face high fuel costs, they may protect their balance sheet by raising fares, cutting capacity or suspending routes. As a result, students, patients, workers, families, tourism operators and small businesses in Sabah suffer,” he said.
Chen said any government intervention should be transparent, route-based, temporary and open to all airlines serving Sabah, including AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air and other operators.
“We are not asking Putrajaya to bail out a private company. We are asking Putrajaya to protect Sabahans from being stranded by unaffordable fares, reduced routes and unstable connectivity,” he said.
Among the measures proposed under the plan are guaranteed minimum flight frequencies for key Sabah-Peninsula routes to ensure connectivity remains steady; a temporary fuel-shock mechanism when jet fuel prices exceed a specified trigger level to ease fare pressure; and assistance tied to routes and passengers rather than airline shareholders.
Chen also proposed fare protection during festive seasons for students and medical travellers, greater transparency over cancellations, delays, fuel surcharges and route suspensions, as well as airport charge relief on the condition that the savings are passed on to passengers or used to maintain flights.
Other measures include strengthening Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) capacity, runway reliability and contingency planning, as well as encouraging greater competition and route diversification into Sabah.
He said the recent KKIA runway disruption further demonstrated the need for stronger resilience planning.
“One runway issue can affect thousands of passengers and disrupt tourism, family travel and business movement. This shows that aviation is not merely a commercial matter. It is economic infrastructure,” he said.
Chen urged the Federal Government to act before further fare increases or route reductions occur, so Sabahans are not left with worse connectivity.
“Sabah has already waited too long for fair treatment in infrastructure. Air connectivity must now be part of the national discussion on MA63, equal partnership and development justice,” he said.
“If Sabah is truly an equal partner in Malaysia, then our right to move freely and affordably within our own country must be protected.”
