More international air routes wanted for Miri’s tourism industry

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MIRI: More international air routes are necessary for Miri’s tourism industry to develop further.

Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Piasau chairman Datuk Sebastian Ting said the sole international connection of Miri-Singapore at present is inadequate.

“One typical example is Kota Kinabalu, whereby its thriving tourism industry is because there are various international flights from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Singapore that fly to Kota Kinabalu Airport,” he said.

Ting said during its triennial general meeting SUPP Piasau included a request for more international flights to Miri in its resolutions.

“To break the tourism bottleneck of Miri, the state government should be more aggressive on this issue. There are a lot of natural and cultural attractions available here in Miri which are yet to be tapped to the fullest by the industry players,” he said.

He suggested several connections by air including to Shenzhen, China; Thailand and Manila in the Philippines.

Ting added that it is also critical to expedite the fulfilment of the Miri Airport extension plan.

“It was made known that the Miri Airport extension would be completed by the end of this year. It was reported that there would be an additional four aprons for Boeing and seven aprons for ATR flights, additional runway and four new aerobridges,” he added.

Ting said as the gateway to the northern region of Sarawak, Miri has the fifth busiest airport in Malaysia.

“Since it (extension project) has been tendered, work should be carried out promptly to benefit the people and enhance Miri’s tourism development as a whole.”