KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — Domestic flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah and Sarawak were resumed to allow for those who tested negative for Covid-19 after a 14-day quarantine or those flying in from abroad to be able to return to their home state, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob explained today.
Asked who would be allowed to sit on such flights, Ismail Sabri acknowledged that many have been asking and questioning about the Transport Ministry’s (MOT) approval for domestic flights from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah and Sarawak.
“I wish to inform that those who were quarantined earlier on...they can come out from quarantine centres. Some of them are from Sabah and Sarawak, so if we want to resume flights on May 1 to Sarawak, they still have to stay here.
“So that’s why we asked MAS, MOT also discussed with us, the view is that there needs to be flights home so they don’t have to continue to be quarantined, because after the end of 14 days, they can go home,” he said in a press conference that was broadcast “live”.
“Secondly, we wish to say that those who transit from overseas, there must be connecting flights direct to Sabah or Sarawak and quarantine in the respective states, this is to solve the issue for transiting passengers,” he said, adding that they would otherwise have to spend two weeks in Peninsular Malaysia before passenger flights reopen on May 1.
“So since we already said that we allow them to come here, if they have one or two days before their flights to Sabah, we prepare a centre for them to stay in KLIA, but it is a centre for them to stay temporarily before they can fly back to Sabah, Sarawak,” he said.
“We thank MOT for preparing flights to Sabah, Sarawak. Although it is once a week, there are also proposals for it to be twice a week and based on need. If needed, twice a week, (if) many are stranded and want to return to Sabah and Sarawak, we ask for MOT to allow Malaysia Airlines to bring them back to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
On April 13, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said Malaysia Airlines would this week resume flights at a frequency of once a week for each of these routes : two connecting Sarawak (KL-Kuching-KL, KL-Miri-KL) and one connecting Sabah (KL-Kota Kinabalu-KL), with flight frequencies from next week onwards to increase if the demand increases.
Wee had said MASwings would connect such passenger flights within Sarawak with the routes of Miri-Bintulu-Miri, Kuching-Sibu-Kuching, Sibu-Bintulu-Sibu.
Wee had also clarified that Malaysia Airlines had continued to operate their cargo services especially for the delivery of food and medical supplies throughout the MCO period, with continued operations of cargo flights to east Malaysia thrice a week to these routes (KL-Kuching-KL, KL-Kota Kinabalu-KL, KL-Labuan-KL).
In new government regulations made by the health minister yesterday for the third phase of the MCO from April 15 to April 28, no one is allowed to move within a state or move about from state to state, except for a limited number of reasons: purchasing or supplying or delivering food, medicine, dietary supplements or daily necessities, seeking healthcare or medical services, to perform any official duty, to procure or provide any essential services or perform any duty related to essential services.
An exception to this is if authorised officers direct anyone to subject themselves to isolation, observation or surveillance for a specified period.
Those wishing to move about within a state or between states for a special and particular reason are required to obtain prior written permission from the police officer in charge of the police station nearest to their residence.
