Its managing director Idris Jala said the new fare structure was on a one-way basis. Existing full fares have been
increased by an average of 15% and 30% for economy and business classes, with multi-tiered fares offering discounts of 10% to 60%.

The nine different fares cater for the different market segments and are classified as business, business plus, economy, flex saver (higher fare), flex saver (lower fare), saver plus, websaver (a) and websaver (b). Under websaver (a), a ticket has to be purchased 10 days in advance, and under websaver (b) 14 days in advance.

MAS' revised one-way economy class online fares start from as low as RM59 for travel within Sabah and Sarawak, RM69 for travel within Peninsular Malaysia and RM99 for travel between the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak.

MAS will waive the RM14 in administration fees per sector for online bookings.

Economy class one-way fares transacted through MAS' 24-hour Call Centre and traditional distribution channels start from RM79 for travel within Sabah and Sarawak, RM89 for travel within Peninsular Malaysia and RM149 for travel between the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak.

The "micro-segmentised" fare system has been rationalised for the domestic network covering 23 routes.

"Although full fares for economy and business class have been raised to a weighted average of 15% and 30%, respectively, our customers will continue to enjoy one of the lowest domestic airfares in the world," Idris stressed.

He said that from the airline's research, Malaysia was second to Thailand in terms of average domestic fares. It costs
RM0.63 per mile in Thailand and RM0.71 in Malaysia while Japan is the highest at RM43.41 per mile.

"When we reviewed our domestic fares, we took into consideration that the travelling public wanted more affordable choices. We went through cost-cutting measures that positively affected both our Business Turnaround Plan and our fares," he said.

In addition to the fares offered through traditional distribution channels, the airline has also introduced fares exclusive to its website www. malaysiaairlines.com.

In addition, the airline is continuing its existing discounts on normal economy class fares for senior citizens, MPs, the
blind and disabled, students, the media, and the security forces, as well as for family travel.

(News extract from The Star dated 22 August 2006)