By Jaythaleela K
MIRI, Feb 23: Miri will once again be open to foreign travellers on Wednesday with an international commercial flight from Singapore arriving for the first time in nearly two years after restrictions were put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A Scoot Tiger Air flight carrying 22 fully vaccinated passengers to Miri has landed at Miri Airport today, making it the first international direct flight to arrive in the town since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The inaugural flight, TR400, was welcomed with a water cannon salute upon touching down at the airport at 2.20pm.
The Miri-Singapore route is Scoot’s second flight service to Sarawak, on top of its existing flight service to Kuching.
“On January this year, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) has decided to increase the frequency of international flights to the State from 307 weekly to 569 flights, and this includes today’s Scoot Air A320 arrival in Miri with a capacity of 180 passengers two times weekly, every Wednesday and Saturday,” disclosed Sarawak Transport Minister (MOTS) Datuk Sri Lee Kim Shin.
Earlier Lee, together with Assistant Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew, Miri Mayor Adam Yii Siew Sang cum Pujut assemblyman, Permanent secretary of MOTS Datu Buckland Bangik, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak Hii Chang Kee, Acting Senior general manager, Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd Kamaruzzaman Razali and Miri Airport Manager Jauhari Abdullah greeted passengers of the airline upon their disembarkation.
“Scoot will be operating their flight from Singapore to Miri bi-weekly, and flying from Singapore to Kuching three times weekly,” said Lee during a press conference after witnessing the arrival of the aircraft here.
He added that the flight was supposed to land on Jan 19, but due to unforeseen circumstances it was rescheduled to today.
Lee viewed that the flight marks the beginning of the first foreign airline that flies direct to Miri from Singapore and will be a boost to Miri’s tourism industry.
“Miri has a lot to offer in terms of tourism and business activities, especially oil and gas and in the agricultural sector. I sincerely hope that Scoot will work closely with our Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), tourism industry players, business communities and Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office in Singapore to promote this new route,” he pointed out.
“To further promote bilateral business and investment opportunities, it is imperative to improve the transportation sector between Singapore and Sarawak. More regular, reliable, efficient and competitive air connectivity is one area that there is need to focus on, apart from shipping.”
Lee described Singapore as one of Sarawak’s key trading partners.
Before the pandemic, the state’s exports to Singapore in 2019 was RM1.28 billion while imports from the republic amounted to RM1.45 billion. While in 2020, Sarawak exports to Singapore decreased to RM1.01 billion and imports from the republic also decreased to around RM1.16 billion.
The growing number of visitors from Singapore to Sarawak since 2010 has increased from 38,743 to 46,812 in 2019.
However, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of visitors from Singapore has decreased to 7,363 in 2020.
“We expect the number of travellers and visitors coming from Singapore and overseas to Sarawak will gradually increase and is expected to improve in the near future, especially with aggressive tourism promotion and when the Covid-19 situation is under control,” Lee disclosed. — DayakDaily
