THE Johor government is exploring the possibility of new flight routes from the Senai International Airport to boost tourism in the state.
State tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar said currently, the airport has 16 flight destinations – 12 domestic flights and four to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Bangkok in Thailand as well as Jakarta and Surabaya in Indonesia.
“The state government is studying new flight destinations.
“The Senai International Airport is also being upgraded with the addition of five new departure gates,” he said after visiting the airport with Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
Raven Kumar, who is also Tenggaroh assemblyman, said once the upgrade was completed, there would be nine departure gates at the airport to accommodate some five million passengers a year.
On Jan 9, StarMetro reported that Johor’s tourism sector has been recovering steadily since the reopening of international borders in April last year.
Tourism Johor director Suhairi Hashim was reported as saying that the state had benefitted significantly from the reopening of the border with Singapore as a majority of its international tourists travelled from the island republic.
“The tourism industry has been recovering well despite the lack of manpower, which remains a major challenge.
“We were able to attract 2.8 million international visitors last year. This year, we have set a target of five million foreign visitors.
“Based on our performance last year, I am confident that the target is attainable,” he told StarMetro. — By MOHD FARHAAN SHAH
