KUCHING, Nov 18 — Sarawak’s airports and short take-off and landing airports (STOLports) saw 95,441 aircraft movements, carrying 7.56 million passengers as of the third quarter of this year (Q3 2024).

Sarawak Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin said 42,381 tonnes of goods were also transported as air cargo during the period, including electronics, oil and gas equipment, e-commerce products, textiles, and perishable items like fruits and flowers.

"In 2024, Sarawak received an average of 406 flights weekly from other states of Malaysia to Sarawak, including federal territories, compared to 373 flights weekly last year,” he said when winding up for his ministry at the State Legislative Assembly here today.

According to Lee, Kuching International Airport remains the busiest, receiving 211 flights weekly, followed by Miri (86 flights), Sibu (60 flights) and Bintulu (37 flights).

"The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has recently approved a new domestic flight route between Kuching and Ipoh, Perak for AirAsia Bhd.

"However, the commencement date for operations has yet to be determined by the airline,” he said.

Lee said the state also saw growth in international flights, with 37 weekly international arrivals by November 2024, up from 33 in the Q1 of this year.

He said this was due to Singapore’s no-frill airline Scoot’s flight expansion in June 2024 from Singapore to Sibu and Miri, with an average of three flights and four flights weekly, respectively. — Bernama