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Produced in Kuching by:
On behalf of:
E v e r y N e w R o u t e , E v e r y W e e k
S u b s c r i b e t o o u r f r e e w e e k l y n e w s l e t t e r , v i s i t w w w . a n n a . a e r o
Routes
Reimaging Kuching
The reimaging of Kuching as a destination was part of the Five Year Tourism Industry
Transformation Program which began in 2010 with one thought in mind – to position Sarawak as
a home of adventure with elements of culture and nature – says Dato’ Rashid Khan, CEO, Sarawak
Tourism Board, in an interview with anna.aero for the Routes Dailies magazine.
Sarawak is
situated on
the third
largest island
in the world,
which makes
accessibility a challenge
— so we have to make it
easy for travellers to get
here. The key challenge
is to improve air-
connectivity so that
visitors are able to
experience the secrets of
Borneo.
The first phase in
enhancing the visitor
experience was to work
with our airline partners
operating through
hub airports such
as KLIA and Changi.
The objective was to
make the journey more
comfortable through
reducing transit and
waiting times to connect
to not only Kuching, but
to airports such as Sibu,
Miri and Bintulu, also on
Sarawak.
We also collaborate
with airlines to create
more city pairs,
enabling travellers to
fly direct to Sarawak.
On the domestic front,
AirAsia is aggressive
in developing city
pairs such as between
Kuching or Miri and
Penang, Kota Bahru,
Kuala Trengganu and
Johore Bahru and
Langkawi — bypassing
KLIA altogether.
The second phase
was to engage airlines
like Malaysia Airlines,
AirAsia, SilkAir and
Malindo Air to operate
more frequencies on
their existing routes.
We are preparing for
the eventual ASEAN
Economic Community
that will open up
opportunities for airlines
within ASEAN member
countries, as well as the
implementation of the
ASEAN Open Sky Policy
Roadmap by 2015, which
will hopefully result in
a more liberal aviation
environment operating
in a single market.
Outside ASEAN, we have
identified opportunities
in Taiwan, Hong Kong
and China where there
is two-way demand.
Despite the current
lack of direct flights,
visitor arrivals figures
from these countries
are growing. We are
targeting idle planes
lying overnight in
airports in these
countries and encourage
them to fly either
scheduled or non-
scheduled charters into
Kuching or Miri. This
is something which
can be easily achieved
within an eight to 10-
hour time frame and
allows airlines to sweat
their assets without
compromising their
normal schedules.
LionAir
daughter
companyMalindo
Air launched
operations in
Malaysia last year,
starting routes on
the two busiest
domestic city pairs
fromKuala Lumpur
to Kota Kinabalu and
Kuching. The airline
also flies fromKuala
Lumpur to Sibu on
Sarawak.
Encouraging airlines
to sweat
their aircraft — Dato’ Rashid Khan,
CEO, Sarawak Tourism Board.
