PUTRAJAYA: The impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on global oil and gas prices has further deepened concerns over domestic and international airline fares.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the war, which began in February, has seen inflated prices of flight tickets sold by all airline companies.

He said dynamic pricing strategies implemented by the companies take into account aviation fuel prices, as well as market demands.

"Before this, flight tickets to China only cost a few thousand each, but it is impossible at the moment (to get such prices). 

"And this was not done on purpose, but rather due to the hike in the prices of fuel.

"Secondly, we have to look at the demands. In Malaysia, due to government intervention, we have asked the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) to monitor flight ticket prices between April 29 and May 8," he told reporters after attending the prime minister's Hari Raya open house at Kompleks Seri Perdana today.

Wee said such control on prices could be implemented on tickets that were bought early, but the same could not be said for those bought at the last minute.

He asked consumers who claimed to have bought tickets for domestic destinations at prices between RM2,000 and RM3,000 to furnish the dates of purchase, whether they were bought within two weeks prior to departure or at the eleventh hour.

He also reminded consumers who intended to return to their hometowns for Chinese New Year by air to start browsing for tickets and get a better deal.

When asked of public complaints about last-minute flight schedule changes, he advised passengers to lodge a report involving any unreasonable switch to allow Mavcom to take action.

He said airline companies must not resort to labour shortage as an excuse as they should have expected an increase in demands during peak seasons.

"During the spread of Covid-19, the companies said they did not have enough passengers and I think the situation is different now.

"Only destinations with demand would be offered. The companies would not offer tickets for destinations with no demands."