Saturday, June 24, 2006

Miri as northern gateway for Sarawak

By George Francis

MIRI - Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and the tourism industry players would persuade their argument to the federal authority for the Malaysia Airline System (MAS) as a national carrier with established international air-connectivity to continue servicing Miri as northern gateway of Sarawak.

Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communications, Lee Kim Shin, said the group put up a strong petition for MAS to have direct international flights coming to Miri sector from Kota Kinabalu that has already established a systematic inter-airline connectivity.

By August, budget airline, AirAsia will take over 99 domestic or non-trunk routes from MAS, while its subsidiary newly-formed Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) takes over from MAS all the rural air service (RAS) operations, including to the Mulu sector. MAS service between Kota Kinabalu and Miri were also to be terminated.

The industry players and consumers feel that MAS should continue its services for international connections especially to Miri as a new emerging tourist destination and for those wishing to travel first class, while AirAsia can fly with different operation and cheaper airfare.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin Weekend

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