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Tee: Air travel in Johor increasing due to development in tourism and economic sectors19 Jan 2017, by The Star Online

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Tee (in batik) welcoming Chinese visitors on the maiden flight from Shenzhen, China at the Senai International Airport.

JOHOR BARU: Air travel continues to increase in the state with an average of 520 flights each week comprising eight domestic and seven international routes.

State Domestic Trade, Tourism and Consumerism committee chairman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong said Senai International Airport has shown rapid growth in passengers using the airport to travel to international destinations.

“Last year there were 431,357 passengers compared with 300,745 in 2015. This is a 43.4% increase,” he said when welcoming passengers on board a maiden flight from Shenzhen to Johor Baru last week.

Tee added that the airport’s increased usage was significant following the rapid development taking place in the state in the last few years in the tourism and economic sectors.

“Now more investors from China can come to Johor to invest as the travel time is only about three hours,” he said, hoping that more airlines would use Senai Airport as a hub for their operations.

The latest flight, which is operated by China Spring Airline in collaboration with Malaysia Airlines, will start with two flights weekly on Mondays and Fridays with a capacity for 180 passengers.

Meanwhile, Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Md Derick Basir said that that they were thrilled to welcome the Shenzen flight introduced by Spring Airlines via Senai Airport.

He added that Shenzhen was the second destination after Guangzhou from China.

“I believe this route will succeed as there is a lot of demand for air travel between Johor Baru and Shenzhen, especially for trade and leisure purposes,” he added.

Derick added that Senai Airport together with the state government would continue to work together to attract more direct international flights to fuel Johor’s growth and economy.