KUCHING: The Sarawak government has liaised with airlines operators to provide special flights for its students studying in Sabah, said state Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin.

He said his ministry have received requests from students who are studying in Sabah for flights from Kuching to Kota Kinabalu and from Miri to Kota Kinabalu.

Lee said based on the requests, the state government had liaised with Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia, Malindo and Maswings to consider operating special flights to the said destinations to help the students.

"For this purpose, we advise our students to contact the airlines directly to book their flight tickets so that the airlines will apply for special permission from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to these destinations.

"We hope this approach will be able to help our students to return to their respective campuses and resume their new semester in time, which will commence on April 5," he said in a statement today.

Currently, the Sarawak government has reduced the number of flights coming into the state with only approved flights are allowed in, partly due to COVID-19 situation.

-- BERNAMA