Senai airport to go international again

11 May 2011 , By The Edge

International flights are to resume from the Senai airport here after a lapse of almost a year.

Low-cost carrier Firefly Sdn Bhd has confirmed that it will introduce its maiden flight to the Indonesian cities of Surabaya and Bandung on Aug 12 and Aug 16 respectively.

It will also fly to Bangkok at the end of the year.

The Senai airport used to be the southern hub of budget airline Air Asia’s international operations, with flights to Macau, Bangkok and Jakarta until it halted the services in the middle of last year.

Sriwijaya, the Indonesia-based airline, also operated a flight to Surabaya from Senai but stopped doing so last August.

Since then, the Senai airport has only catered to domestic flights but with Firefly’s latest confirmation, the Johor government’s efforts to turn it into an international destination, are picking up pace.

Johor Tourism Department director Dr Shaari Mohd Nooh said Firefly, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, is serious in wanting to make the Senai airport its southern hub.

"Firefly will have two planes for the international flights and a set of crew permanently stationed here;’ he said after launching the Johor Travel Fair 2011 here last Friday.