KUCHING, April 18 — Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii today said that the Sarawak state government must be accountable with their intention to set up a boutique airline, especially with regard to its total cost.
He said Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg must be transparent on who are the parties involved, economic feasibility and sustainability study, and cost-effectiveness analysis as this may have a big impact to the economic safety and long-term economic sustainability of Sarawak.
“While I am supportive of what is good for Sarawak especially to find ways to improve connectivity and stabilise tickets prices into Sarawak, I express some reservations on the idea of setting up Sarawak’s own airline, as it may not be sustainable and economically feasible and will come at a huge economic cost to Sarawak,” he said.
Yii was responding to a statement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that the latter had agreed in principle for Sarawak to set up a boutique airline.
He said even though the prime minister had agreed in principle to the proposal, he believes it is of best interest of all Sarawakians to be made more aware of its details.
“This decision may cost a lot of public funds to set up, let alone find it tough to sustain the business model and maintaining the assets as Sarawak may not have the economy of scale to keep it sustainable.
“If it is profitable, i am sure the other airlines would have taken advantage of it and provided more of such routes into and out of Sarawak,” he said.
Yii said he hopes that no public funds will be used to bail out the airline in future.
