Muslims can charter direct flights from Senai Airport to Jeddah.

Date: 3 February 2013

Muslims can charter direct flights from Senai Airport to Jeddah.

JOHOR BARU: Muslims can now charter direct flights from the Senai International Airport here to Jeddah as there will be a total of 18 flights from servicing the two destinations between now to August. Johor Corporation (JCorp) president and chief executive  officer Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kasim said there will be  three flights each month, accommodating about 550 pilgrims  per flight.

More than 250 pilgrims yesterday set off for Jeddah in the  maiden Johor Baru-Jeddah flight on The National Air Services (NAS), a Saudi Arabian domestic low-cost airline. The flights were arranged by Tiram Travel Sdn Bhd, a  subsidiary of JCorp.

Speaking to reporters after the launch, Kamaruzzaman  said the 18 flights will see a total of 9,000 pilgrims to Jeddah,  which is expected to generate a value of RM60 million for the  company.

“Due to the strategic-location of the Senai International  Airport, we believe the package will attract those from  Singapore and Indonesia as well as locals. We also plan to have flights from Johor Baru to Medina  some time this year. We are still in talks with the Saudi  Arabian government regarding this,” he said, adding that the  airport will become a "Umrah hub" of the southern region.

He added that the tour company was also planning to  introduce flights for pilgrims from the Riau Islands via Batam  and to Pekan Baru via Malacca. Tiram Travel, which has been organising umrah packages for more than a decade and has 12 branches in various  states, is expecting between 10,000 to 12,000 pilgrims to  make the journey this year.

Kamaruzzaman said the number has been increasing each  year since 2010. “There were 4,000 pilgrims in 2010, which increased to  5,700 the following year. Last year, 7,353 made the trip,” he said, adding Tiram Travel was also going to embark aggressively on inbound travels as Johor now has the Johor Premium Outlets and the  Legoland Theme Park. There are also plans to incorporate Universal Studios Singapore (USS) in the tour package.

“We are targeting Arab tourists from the Middle East, and hope that the upward trend will continue into the Visit  Malaysia Year 2014,” he said.

In conjunction with the launch of the maiden flight, the  company also proceeded with the launch of the JCorp Hotels  and Resorts Sdn Bhd lounge in the Senai International  Airport. The lounge offers information of the hotels owned by the  group, which included, The Puteri Pacific Johor Baru, Hotel  Selesa Pasir Gudang, Selesa Tioman Condotel and the Sibu  Island Resort.

By Chuah Bee Kim

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