Tuesday, August 01, 2006

JB-Kuching flights to resume on Aug 14

JOHOR BARU: It will not be until Aug 14 before Malaysia Airlines can resume its Johor Baru-Kuching flights.

The route is among three domestic routes which MAS will continue to service under the new aviation policy. The others are Kuala Lumpur-Tawau and Kuala Lumpur-Sandakan.

A check on the MAS website showed that its passengers to Kuching have to wait in transit at KL International Airport for about one-and-a-half hours before continuing their journey.

MAS said in a statement that after the recent announcement by the Government that it would continue to operate the JB-Kuching sector (previously a non-trunk route), the earliest it could start was Aug 14.

This is due to the number of operating crew who had earlier been granted leave and the redeployment of aircraft.

The weekly flights would also be reduced to 14 from 21.

MAS was to hand over all its routes from here to Sabah and Sarawak to AirAsia in March.

Johor Tourist Guides Association chairman Jimmy Leong hoped that all the “administrative problems” would be sorted out quickly.

“There have been a large number of cancellations of tour packages to Sarawak and Sabah,” he said, adding that this was a substantial revenue loss to the country.

Leong stressed that with Johor located next to Singapore, serious attention should be given to Senai as an international hub to lure foreigners.

“Many Singaporeans travelling to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu like to fly with MAS as they want their travelling to be smooth,” he said.

Source: The Star

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