LAST
Saturday, Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the
implementation of the 1Malaysia Integration Programme in association
with Air Asia.
The program offers 10,000 free return tickets to Sabah
and Sarawak that will be open for booking on Wednesday. The tickets cover travel period from 14 January to 4 February.
Datuk Masidi Manjun,
Sabah State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment praised Air Asia for the
Malaysia Integration Programme, saying that it would give opportunity
for Sabahans to travel by air.
“This
provides the opportunity for Sabahans to travel to other states in
Malaysia without being burdened by high traveling costs,” Masidi said
when asked by reporters at Ming Garden yesterday.
“I
know that the cost to operate a flight is high but I feel it is a good
investment in corporate social responsibility that has a good aim, which
is integration," he said.
“I thank Air-Asia and hope that this offer will be continued in the future and that other airlines would do likewise,” he said.
However,
Masidi sees that the objective of the program will only be realized if
the seats were made available to those who have never traveled by air
before.
“My
personal opinion is that we should give two groups the priority to
participate in this scheme, those who have never traveled in an airplane
before, especially those in the rural areas and young students,” he
said.
The
free seats are available for booking at www.airasia.com to all
Malaysians who have a valid Malaysian Identification Card, on Wednesday,
9 January 2013, beginning at 12.01 am.
However,
airport taxes will be applicable, even though fares and fuel surcharge
are waived. Baggage allocation, in-flight meals, seat selection and
other value-added services are also not included along with the free
seats.
The
free seats are only valid for flights departing from Kota Kinabalu,
Kuching, Labuan, Sandakan, Miri, Tawau Sibu, Bintulu, Kuala Lumpur,
Penang, Johor Bahru. Domestic flights within the Peninsular or within
East Malaysia are not applicable.
Source: Insight Sabah
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