Malaysia is preparing its air vaccination travel lane with Thailand and Cambodia. The said travel scheme will start on March 15 of this year. It is a part of the joint effort to open international borders to revive economies.
Malaysia to Open Air Vaccination Travel Lane Thailand and Cambodia
Malaysia Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong stated that the federal government is set to implement the air Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL). The nation will open its VTL with two other ASEAN countries, Thailand and Cambodia.
“Now discussions are being made to determine which flights and routes will be used to implement the VTL-Air initiative to Thailand and Cambodia. Both countries have also informed me that they will not carry out any quarantine, but for entry into Malaysia, we will use the same method as VTL-Air with Singapore,” Wee said during a press conference.
He also said that the routes would support the mutual economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic impact. This joint effort expects to bring back the life of the tourism industry in the said countries.
Wee added that the air Vaccinated Travel Lane with the other two ASEAN countries would have the same conception of Singapore. They would follow what Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Changi International Airport used.
SOPs and Health Protocols
Corresponding agencies will soon release the associated standard operating procedure (SOP) as well as health etiquettes. Travelers must observe the protocols to take advantage of the VTL facility. The Malaysian government will continue talking with proximate ASEAN countries regarding the riskless resuming of extra routes in the future. This mainly depends on the prevailing situations.
For Thailand, the earmarked airlines from both nations will be authorized to consist of six daily flights for the Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok route. Also, there will be four daily flights for the Kuala Lumpur-Phuket route. Additional routes might also be added depending on the mutual agreement of both countries.
As for Cambodia, the selected airlines from both countries are allowable to operate with up to two daily flights. The course will be on the Kuala Lumpur-Phnom Penh route while extra routes depend on market demand.
As of the moment, Malaysia has both land and air vaccinated travel lanes with Singapore. It also made an agreement with Brunei that will take place soon.
Fuel Surcharge on Malaysian Airline
Starting on Tuesday, March 8, AirAsia Malaysia will bring back fuel surcharges to all its domestic and international flights. The said plan will neutralize increasing jet fuel prices that surpassed $120 per barrel.
According to AirAsia Malaysia, they are not charging fuel surcharges since its abolishment in 2015. During that time, the prices of global fuel prices started at $48 per barrel. At the same time, the said airline is absorbing the oil price hike for the past few years. Other carriers, on the other hand, had some fare adjustments. They mushroomed fuel and admin charges to retaliate operating costs as early as 2018.
“We hope this will only be a temporary measure. AirAsia will continue to ensure our fares remain as low as possible despite the fuel surcharge while other carriers were already adjusting fares and increasing fuel and admin charges to counter rising operating costs as early as 2018. Even when faced with the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, we still managed to deflect the rising operational costs and continued to offer low fares to the people,” said Riad Asmat, chief executive officer of AirAsia Malaysia.
Image Source: Jorge Láscar/WikimediaCommons (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
.jpg){kind=link}