SEPANG, Jan 20 ― The Ministry of Transport (MoT) wants airlines to focus on their operations to avoid flight delays, said its Minister Anthony Loke.

He said he had held discussions with low-cost airlines to find a solution to the issue.

"I do know about the public's complaints regarding the flight delay issue which is due to various factors such as technical, weather and so on.

"But I have asked the airlines to focus on operations as we hope better operations can reduce the problem of flight delays,” he told reporters after attending the launching ceremony of AirAsia's special additional flights in conjunction with Chinese New Year at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Sepang, last night.

AirAsia previously announced 52 additional flights at fixed low fares to six destinations in Sabah and Sarawak from January 17 to 30 in conjunction with the festive season.

The low-cost airline is offering extra flights with fixed fares starting from RM199 and RM249 one-way from Kuala Lumpur or Johor Baru to Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.

"We want to give an opportunity to Malaysians who work in the peninsula to come home to celebrate the festivity in Sabah and Sarawak. Not only for Chinese New Year but will continue during the Hari Raya season later,” he said, adding that the positive response shown by the public proved that the initiative benefits them. ― Bernama