By Jaythaleela K
BINTULU, Feb 17: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Youth is unhappy with AirAsia’s decision to stop the Kuching-Shenzhen route.
“It surely is a big ‘no’ for SUPP and Sarawak, generally,” said its Youth chief Michael Tiang.
“It will affect the state’s tourism industry negatively.”
Speaking to reporters covering Progressive Democratic Party (PDP)’s Chinese New Year open house here today, Tiang said the state did not want the ‘fly-through’ package, where the flight between Shenzhen and Kuching had to stopover at Kuala Lumpur.
“We want direct flights to boost our (Sarawak) tourism sector,” he opined.
“Fly-through packages are nothing new for us. We don’t want fly-through package flights.”
He hoped lawmakers from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Sarawak would speak up for the state since they are in the federal government.
As a long-term measure to address connectivity headaches, Tiang called upon all Sarawakians to support Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s suggestion for the state to set up its own airline.
“Our CM’s suggestion to have our own airline is timely. As Sarawakians, we must support it,” he said.
Tiang wondered whether AirAsia’s decision to suspend the direct Kuching-Shenzhen flight was due to pressure from Putrajaya.
“They (Air Asia) said they decided to scrap the route because of commercial viability, which we find hard to accept,” he said.
The decision to suspend that route will take effect at the end of this month (Feb 28). — DayakDaily
