Tycoon to build 400-room hotel in the heart of Miri

Thursday April 22, 2010

By STEPHEN THEN
stephenthen@thestar.com.my

MIRI will soon have a five-star hotel in the heart of the city, boosting its image as the commercial and tourism gateway of northern Sarawak.

Construction of the RM400mil Four Points by Sheraton Miri will start before the end of this year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2011, said Sarawak tycoon Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing, who is the project developer.

The 400-room hotel, to be equipped with a huge convention hall, will be located next to the slope of Canada Hill, a stone's throw away from the old city centre.

Construction of the hotel, the biggest in northern Sarawak, was supposed to take place last June, but was delayed due to technical reasons.

Ting assured the people of Miri that the hotel would be a reality soon and boost the image of the city and state.

Speaking to newsmen after briefing Miri mayor Lawrence Lai about the project, Ting said he had spoken with friends and business counterparts abroad, including in Singapore, about tourism developments in Miri and northern Sarawak.

“We can do a lot more to promote Miri and northern Sarawak. We need to provide more tourism facilities and attractions in the city centre to woo more people to stay.

“I hope to bring in more Singaporeans,'' he added.

Ting, who has developed hotels and resorts in Langkawi and Sabah, expressed optimism that a high-class hotel and convention centre would boost tourism in Miri and the northern region.

He hoped the city would get more direct international flights from neighbouring countries such as Singapore.

Ting called on Air Asia to reactivate its daily Miri-Singapore-Miri flight as soon as possible, adding that tourism development would not pick unless there was a direct flow of international tourists from overseas destinations.

Air Asia cancelled its daily Miri-Singapore-Miri direct flight last month citing low passenger load.

In an immediate response, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan, who is also Tourism and Heritage Minister, appealed to Air Asia to reinstate the route, saying the flight had an average 70% load daily.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/22/sarawak/6103544&sec=sarawak

AirAsia To Operate New Routes Between Singapore And Cities In Sabah, Sarawak

October 04, 2008 19:04 PM

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Low-cost carrier AirAsia has been given the green light to operate new routes between Singapore and three cities in Sabah and Sarawak.

Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said those cities are Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Miri.

"Detailed negotiations between my ministry and the Singapore authorities will be finalised this month and we hope AirAsia can operate those routes as soon as possible. Definitely this year," he told reporters after attending the Sabah MCA convention here.

Ong also said that the negotiations would involve increasing AirAsias frequency between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by December.

Currently, AirAsia is operating the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route twice daily.

Meanwhile, Ong quashed misconceptions that Malaysia was not practising the open sky policy.

"People seem to have a misconception on the open sky policy when it is actually in place," he said.

"We have reached agreements with other countries to practise this policy in Sabah and Sarawak as well as at our secondary airports," he added.

Source: BERNAMA

FAX considering regional flights from Miri

Friday January 12, 2007

MIRI: Malaysia's third national airline Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) is mulling over plans to operate regional flights from Miri to neighbouring countries.

In the pipeline are flights from Miri to cities and towns in Kalimantan to "test" the Indonesian market, said FAX CEO Raja Mohd Azmi Razali.

FAX, recently licensed by the Government to operate international long-haul flights using the Air Asia X brand, has its headquarters in this oil capital of Sarawak.

Raja Azmi said Friday FAX wanted Miri as the base for regional operations to countries in the east Asean zone if it was commercially-viable.

"We will operate our international flights from Kuala Lumpur first before we start similar overseas long-haul flights from Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

"These two cities in Sarawak and Sabah would serve as the bases for our international operations from east Malaysia, while Miri may be used as the base for regional flights.

"We may start with flights from Kuching and Kinabalu to cities in China, and then from Miri to Kalimantan. If the response is good, we will fly to more countries from east Malaysia," he said.

Raja Azmi was asked to comment on the feasibility of using these three cities to operate international direct flights now that Air Asia X had been given the greenlight to go international from July.

"Our foremost concern now is to establish the links between Kuala Lumpur and the international destinations we want to fly to.

"Once we have established this, then we can think of operating similar flights to overseas from east Malaysia," he explained.

FAX operates the rural air service in east Malaysia, serving some 700,000 people, many of whom are from remote places.

Source: The Star

External Links:
Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) - http://www.flyasianxpress.com