Lee: Scoot to mount twice weekly flights to Miri
KUCHING: Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd (Scoot) has confirmed mounting twice weekly direct passenger air service from Singapore to Miri starting Feb 23, says Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin.
He said the letter of conformation from Scoot was received by state Ministry of Transport on Thursday (Feb 3).
He also said Scoot’s counters in Miri Airport had already been set up, ready to manage travellers and passengers for the Singapore-Miri route.
“The flight is now open for booking to the public and travellers can go direct to their website at https://www.flyscoot.com.
“Operation days is every Wednesday and Saturday, arriving at 2.20pm in Miri and departing Singapore at 3pm the same day,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Lee said Scoot’s inaugural flight for the Singapore-Miri route was supposed to start on Jan 19, but due to unforeseen circumstances it was postponed to Feb 23.
“Scoot is operating flights from Singapore to Kuching three times weekly, and it is very timely for the airline to operate from Singapore to Miri and viceversa as Miri is designated as the northern gateway of Sarawak.
“This is also a manifestation of the airlines and other big corporations’ confidence in Sarawak, especially on what Miri can provide and offer the big industry players, as a preferred investment destination, particularly in the oil and gas industry in Malaysia,” said Lee, who is also Senadin assemblyman.
With trainable and skillful labour, competitive electricity and water supply rates, pristine rainforest and harmonious social environment, he said Miri could offer a very competitive business and leisure one-stop destination to the business community.
“Besides, Miri is one of the main tourist gateways for numerous wildlife attractions. For this reason, one can easily reach the world famous Gunung Mulu National Park, the biggest cave in the world by air in 30 minutes.
“It is also the gateway to Sarawak’s largest natural lake, Loagan Bunut National Park, Lambir National Park as the 12th site with the biggest biodiversity in the world and explore the fantastic caves at Niah National Park,” he said.
He added that with the opening of this new route between Singapore and Miri, the time and comfort of doing business would be less of a hassle especially to bring in cargo or business travellers from overseas via Singapore to Miri.
“Since Miri is also the centre for oil and gas industry in Sarawak with the presence of big corporations including Petronas and Shell. The travel time and expenses will be much reduced compared to transiting in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
Despite the opening of this new route between Sarawak and Singapore, he reminded all passengers and travellers to comply strictly with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by National Security Council (MKN), Ministry of Health and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
He said as far as SDMC is concerned, the SOP for travellers included the compulsory filling up of the enter-Sarawak and ehealth form to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the Sarawak.
“We would like to thank Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd for the confidence they have in Miri as their new destination in this region.
“We also like to thank Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office Singapore (Statos), Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Transport Malaysia, Malaysia Aviation Commission, Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, Sarawak Tourism Board, Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad, Immigration Department, Customs Department and the SDMC for their support,” he said.