Sarawak’s tourism stakeholders want to work closely with Malaysia Airlines (MAS), on air accessibility to certain selected destinations in Europe and Australia, following the Kuching International Airport’s new runway extension.The extension is to accommodate the Boeing 737 and Airbus A380 aircrafts.
State Housing and Urban Development Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the local tourism industry, including the state government, is expected to engage MAS on such a possibility based on a 50-50 business joint venture.“MAS wants to make money and we want to attract tourists as part of our marketing strategies,” said Abang Johari who has been tasked with looking after the state Tourism and Heritage Ministry.
He was speaking after meeting with local stakeholders to discuss the industry’s roadmap here.
In terms of aviation and linkages, MAS and its wholly-owned subsidiary, MASWings which serves the Sarawak-Sabah sector, operates 206 weekly flights for the international routes in the state at present.
In January this year, MAS launched its Kuching-Seoul direct flight via Kota Kinabalu as well as its Kuching-Tokyo and Kuching-Osaka direct flights to attract more tourist arrivals from Korea and Japan.
According to the ministry’s data, both airlines also operate 132 domestic flights in Sarawak
Other international routes to Sarawak include those operated by AirAsia which has 224 flights per week, Firefly (28), Tiger Airlines (seven) Silk Air (five), Batavia Air (three) and Royal Brunei Airline (two).
AirAsia has another 42 flights weekly on the domestic route.
## All above photo taken with my Lumix LX3 camera.
