JOHN TEO: High hopes for low fares to Kuching
By : John Teo



The Sarawak government has promised to consider AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes’ request for a low-cost carrier terminal in Kuching.

DATUK Tony Fernandes is such a legendary Malaysian icon now that surely nothing much fazes him any more. He's the centre of attention everywhere he goes in the country and abroad. He should be able to knock on any door in Malaysia and have it opened for him without hesitation.

Adulation for Fernandes in Kuching last week may have been par for the course for him, but it still must have been sweet music coming from one of the nation's most seasoned active politicians, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

The occasion was the official launch of AirAsia's direct service between Kuching and Jakarta. Taib was of course the guest of honour, but he took the unusual step of staying back later to sit among reporters while Fernandes held court with media representatives. Taib's quiet admiration for Fernandes spoke volumes, and more eloquently than the praise he heaped on the airline executive in his speech earlier.

Quite apart from any personal fascination with Fernandes, the enterprising innovator, Taib must have been satisfied that AirAsia is finally beginning to deliver on earlier promises, which only months before had seemed a lost cause: re-establishing direct air links between Kuching and regional cities lost as national carrier Malaysia Airlines regrouped.

Before Jakarta, AirAsia forged a direct link from Kuching to Macau. It will add links to Bali, Bandar Seri Begawan and Singapore in coming months and to Bangkok, Manila, Taipei and Perth later.

Some semi-retired businessmen friends I know who had been eagerly hopping over to almost every new destination opened up by AirAsia out of Kuala Lumpur must be happy with the convenience of the new direct international flights out of Kuching.

The local travel industry, too, must quickly grasp the opportunities opened up by aggressively latching on to AirAsia's initiatives and promoting Sarawak in the cities getting directly connected to Kuching.

Kuching is competing head-on with Kota Kinabalu and Johor Baru, which also serve as AirAsia's regional hubs, and the Sarawak capital still looks like losing out.

Kota Kinabalu is a far more attractive hub for AirAsia because it is already a more established tourist destination, and it already has a dedicated low-cost carrier terminal.

Fernandes has made a pitch for a low-cost carrier terminal in Kuching as well, and Taib has indicated that the request will be considered.

In fact, if there is one thing that the Sarawak government can do to help AirAsia help Sarawak, it would be to immediately accede to this request. The state government should actually go a step further to win over the airline by letting AirAsia build and operate its own terminal in Kuching.

This has been a long-standing sore point with AirAsia -- especially in regard to getting its own terminal for Kuala Lumpur.

That the airline has so far been unsuccessful in this regard has been a blot on our nation's ability to back winners.

Low-cost carriers are particularly price-sensitive and AirAsia has been much admired regionally, largely due to its superior cost efficiencies. Having a free hand to manage its own terminal would enable AirAsia to even better control its costs.

An AirAsia-owned terminal in Kuching would be a first in the region, and may just allow the city to leapfrog over the other hubs from which the airline operates. It will be added incentive for the region's premier low-cost carrier to route more flights out of Kuching.

Taib's political skills, honed over more than four decades, are widely acknowledged across the country. Making it possible for AirAsia to realise its dream of its own terminal would make of Taib and Tony a rather exclusive mutual admiration club that can only be in the best interests of both state and airline.

We are actually competing with JHB and KK (BKI). We r far losing to KK as said above since they are much better in terms many aspects....

I think our state government should just gove the green light to allow the construction of the LCCT KUCHING! THat will bring more international direct flight here. We gotta do this before KK!

Well, current KIA can be consider as LCCT terminal. Why not build another "International Airport"? More spacious in terms of size, better enhanced facilities, more ambience and more flights connecting worldwide? - as proposed in matang area...

Building a LCCT terminal in Kch is not a very wise move. Our current KIA is already underutilized as it is!

I think over half of the flights to and from Kch are run by Airasia. So can you imagine what would happen if a LCCT is built? Our newly renovated KIA will be like a ghost town! Just like what KLIA is now!

And we just spent millions of tax-payer's money on renovating it and building a certain someone's house! And if the LCCT plan goes ahead, who do you think is going to pay for it? Us taxpayers again!

I for one am totally against a LCCT terminal in Kch UNLESS and UNTIL the current KIA is fully-utilized with MAS and other airlines.

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I'm just back from KK International Airport.
Their new international airport is completing soon.
It much much better then KIA. KIA have nothing to compare to KKIA, seriously, the material they use are so high class and the building looks so modern, so what happen to our so called "Ultra-Modern" promised by the Global Upline contractor?