A bus operator in Malaysia shared that he was able to make between RM25,000 (S$7,119) and RM30,000 (S$8,544) in revenue per day by ferrying Taylor Swift fans from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore three times a day.

The man running the service, Amirul Sufi, revealed these figures in a March 9 interview with Malaysian radio channel BFM 89.9.

Crunching of numbers

While the numbers might appear eye-popping, there are costs of operations to factor in as well.

For each bus, about RM4,000 (S$1,139) went towards fuel, driver’s salary, and other costs, such as maintenance.

After deducting these costs, Amirul said he still got about RM6,000 (S$1,708) in profits a day.

A bus ride from KL to Singapore can last from five to seven hours or more, depending on the traffic.

44-seater bus

A bus can take about 44 passengers.

“This is a 44-seater type bus with aircon and it’s also equipped with USB ports prepared for passengers,” he said.

He also said he had wanted to attend Swift’s concert in Singapore, but did not manage to get tickets.

Customer service important

Amirul also said his customer service team added value to his chartered service.

He explained: “Without my customer service team, we won’t be able to get customers. To me, making money is one thing but providing customer service is another.”

The team would usually answer passengers’ questions regarding the journey and immigration processes and also other miscellaneous queries, such as where to eat or change outfits, including where to put on make-up.

Gaining customers’ trust is the most challenging aspect, Amirul reckoned.

“The biggest challenge is actually building trust among customers. The biggest issue is scam. There are ticket scams, hotel scams, as well as transport scams,” he said.

“We don’t have a huge customer base. So it’s very difficult to gain the trust of others when organising such entourages.”