Lee (centre) receiving a memento from Yeo while others look on.
KUCHING (March 13): State Minister of Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin wants Singapore budget airline Scoot to expand its operation in Miri.
He said it is very timely for Scoot to operate to Sibu, being one the major towns in Sarawak.
The Senadin assemblymen then proposed for Scoot to increase their Miri scheduled flights to daily since they have changed the aircraft to a smaller capacity.
“This is mainly because Miri has been established as the northern gateway to Sarawak, where the oil and gas industry has been established since 1910. It is also one of the most popular tourism destinations in the state. It is the second largest city in Sarawak behind Kuching, with a population of about 400,000 people,” he explained via a press statement yesterday.
Besides, he added, Shell Malaysia (Shell) is moving its upstream activities headquarters to Miri, which will house Shell total staff of 2,000 across Malaysia to Miri, showing the confidence of the company with Sarawak as the preferred investment destination in Malaysia, especially in the oil and gas sector.
Therefore, he explained further, with Scoot flight connecting Singapore and Miri, any Shell officer from overseas that needs to be in Miri will be able to fly directly via Singapore.
Lee also proposed for the carrier to consider looking at better slots or timing for its proposed scheduled flights between Singapore and Sibu.
Currently, Scoot is only operating flights from Singapore to Kuching seven times weekly and to Miri three times daily via their Airbus 320 fleet.
The carrier expects to increase the scheduled flights to five times weekly to Miri and to Sibu three times weekly via their Embraer aircraft by May and June of this year.
Yesterday, Lee received a delegation from Scoot Pte Ltd, the budget arm of Singapore Airlines (SIA), at his office in Baitul Makmur Building in Petra Jaya here.
The Scoot delegation, led by general manager for Malaysia, Yeo Kaije, included its commercial sales manager for Malaysia Joanne Tan and Scoot Key Account manager to East Malaysia Wendy Wong.
Lee was accompanied by the ministry’s permanent secretary Dato Alice Jawan, head of Aviation Zulkarnain Rosli and Aviation Technical advisor Dr Sio Yew Hua.
During the meeting, Scoot briefed the ministry on their plans for enhancing air connectivity in Sarawak, particularly their direct passenger air service between Singapore and Sarawak.
This initiative encompasses air connectivity to Miri, Kuching and Sibu, facilitated by their newly acquired Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, with a seating capacity of 112 passengers.
Scoot expressed their commitment to expanding their capacity to accommodate the growing demand for air travel between Singapore and Sarawak and vice versa.
According to Yeo, Scoot is servicing 18 destinations in China and will provide a platform for more Chinese tourists looking for holiday destinations and connections via Singapore.
He also highlighted that Scoot has ordered nine new Embraer E2 jets from the Brazilian manufacturer, and it is the smallest aircraft in Scoot’s fleet, which has a range of 5.278km or six hours of flight time.
Currently, the proposed scheduled flights from Singapore to Sibu are around 5.25am from Singapore and at 7.50am from Sibu to Singapore.
Lee also suggested optimising flight schedules between Singapore and Sibu to enhance connectivity within the SIA network and minimise disruptions for passengers transferring at Changi airport.
Singapore is one of Sarawak’s key trading partners, and the number of visitors from Singapore to Sarawak has increased from 38,743 in 2010 to 46,812 visitors in 2019.
In 2023, visitor arrivals from Singapore had tremendously increased to 60,760.
The ministry commended Scoot and Singapore Airlines for their initiative, expressing confidence that it would strengthen relations between Singapore and Sarawak and promote business, investment and tourism activities between the two regions.
