With KLIA Express fares having shot up after a price revision by Express Rail Link (ERL) Sdn Bhd, it has now become cheaper to travel by air rather than by rail, commented AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes.
Agree, partially. Not everyone can fly on cheap fare.
To get cheaper fares, one must place a booking one or two months in advance, and via credit cards. Not everyone has a credit card.
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Those who need to fly within a day or two still have to pay for the more expensive fare. And still, not fair a fare!
In a tweet, Fernandes complimented the ERL, praising their KLIA Express as a good product but noting all the same that its fare had become expensive.
He also could not fathom why the fares were revised so steeply since the company enjoyed a ready market from passengers who used his low-cost carrier.
“We become unpopular fighting against increase in cost and ask others in aviation to be more efficient to save the rakyat.”
Fernandes’s comments come after the somewhat shocking announcement by ERL on December 1, that the new fare for a one-way trip between KL Sentral and KLIA/KLIA2 would be RM55, up from RM35.
The company has however defended the fare revision and said it was necessary in order to remain sustainable.
It also said the fares for both the KLIA Express and KLIA Transit services had remained unchanged since April 2002 despite rising operational and maintenance costs.
Lets hope no minister says "find other mode of transportation if you refuse the ERL..."
Agree, partially. Not everyone can fly on cheap fare.
To get cheaper fares, one must place a booking one or two months in advance, and via credit cards. Not everyone has a credit card.
Those who need to fly within a day or two still have to pay for the more expensive fare. And still, not fair a fare!
In a tweet, Fernandes complimented the ERL, praising their KLIA Express as a good product but noting all the same that its fare had become expensive.
He also could not fathom why the fares were revised so steeply since the company enjoyed a ready market from passengers who used his low-cost carrier.
“On the ERL. It’s a great product but it’s expensive. Don’t understand. They got all of AirAsia passengers. Cheaper to fly.”He also said fighting the cost increase made one “unpopular” and that it was better to ask others in the aviation industry to operate at a more efficient level so fares for other products and services stayed reasonable and benefited the people.
“We become unpopular fighting against increase in cost and ask others in aviation to be more efficient to save the rakyat.”
Fernandes’s comments come after the somewhat shocking announcement by ERL on December 1, that the new fare for a one-way trip between KL Sentral and KLIA/KLIA2 would be RM55, up from RM35.
The company has however defended the fare revision and said it was necessary in order to remain sustainable.
It also said the fares for both the KLIA Express and KLIA Transit services had remained unchanged since April 2002 despite rising operational and maintenance costs.
Lets hope no minister says "find other mode of transportation if you refuse the ERL..."