KUCHING, June 24 — The Sarawak government is considering the idea of working together with several countries towards setting up its own airline, said Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said, Sarawak being an island, the fastest mode of connectivity is by air, and he is happy to note that the state government has been “able to manage the state financially well and coffers are shooting up very fast”.
“We are able to embark on things that we have never dreamt of before. We are setting up our own airline soon and hopefully with that airline, we could decide things on our own.
“There are many other things that the state has been embarking on which even the federal government is quite amazed.
“They (federal government) have to acknowledge that certain matters, they are so far behind the state government like hydrogen and how we look at climate, so you can say that things are going the right way for us,” he told a press conference at Sarawak Cultural Village here today.
Describing the airline, Abdul Karim said it will start regionally as it grows.
“It will grow much bigger and I do hope that one day it will go very far, to Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea.
“But in the meantime, we will start within Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia, just regional,” he said.
Abdul Karim also disclosed that his ministry had just got back from Jakarta in a discussion with a subsidiary airline of Garuda, hoping that they will also be making connectivity to Sarawak.
“So, we will be doing as much as possible, not just with Indonesia but with other airlines including those from Vietnam, Thailand, will be doing something like that. We do know that for us to grow connectivity is very important,” he added.
Also present at the press conference were Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor, Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Sebastian Ting, Sarawak Tourism Board chairman Dennis Ngau and Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts permanent secretary Sherinna Hussaini. — Borneo Post
