13Nov

Tawau’s first global air access starts

TAWAU: Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) launched its inaugural flight to Tawau from Bandar Seri Begawan, landing here about 6.35pm with 15 passengers, Tuesday. It is Tawau’s first direct air link to the outside world.Among those present were Sabah Tourism Board (STB), Noredah Othman who represented Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew; Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister Department, Datuk Jimmy Wong; General Manager of Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd (MASB) Kamaruzzaman Razali and RB Senior Vice President-Revenue Management, Louis Du Plessis.Christina in her speech said the new route is a great addition for travellers to access the East Coast of Sabah with the first being Sandakan and now, Tawau. She noted that in recent years RB has strengthened connectivity to other Asian countries and improved the London to Brunei flight by reducing one stopover.“I hope Royal Brunei will also consider to include the Sandakan and Tawau sectors into the promotion that you once had which was an optional free stopover in Kota Kinabalu for any London to Melbourne or vice versa ticket purchase.“We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RBA for a UK marketing joint collaboration and we can also include this new route from Brunei to Tawau in the campaign,” she said.She also said that, besides being the gateway to Semporna, Tawau also has unique places of interest such as Tawau Park which houses one of the tallest tropical trees in the world, the 27,000 year old Columnar Basalt at the Balung Cocos village and what is dubbed the Lost World, Maliau Basin. “In September, we organised the first Tropical Hills Run at Tawau Hills Park which welcome more than 200 runners, among them from Indonesia and six from Kenya. We look at this new route as an ease for more travellers to reach other places in Sabah beyond Kota Kinabalu,” she said.Meanwhile, Louis said RB is delighted to introduce Tawau as their latest addition operating six flights a week using a brand new ATR 72-600 operated by our business partner Malindo Air. “It’s another important and exciting step in our goal to make travel easier within Borneo and beyond.“Sabah is already one of our most popular destinations with 18 weekly flights to Kota Kinabalu and more recently, six weekly Sandakan from our hub Brunei International Airport,” he said.RB Link flights provide guests with a full-service experience, including a light snack and drink service (for flights over one hour) and checked baggage allowance of 15kg or, for connecting guests, weight in-line with international fare rules. The aircraft can accommodate 72 economy class seats with four preferred seats on a 43-inch seat pitch and six preferred seats with 33-inch seat pitch. RB link currently operates to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Sandakan, Bintulu, Tawau and very soon to Sibu and Balikpapan. Source: Daily Express
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18Oct

AirAsia to launch direct international flights to Tawau, Sandakan next year

KOTA KINABALU: Tawau and Sandakan are expected to welcome direct international flights brought in by low-cost carrier AirAsia from early next year. AirAsia Group Bhd chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said they are looking at linking both cities to destinations in China, Korea, Japan and Asean countries. "We are looking at January, February. I want to launch it during the winter period to promote the wonderful beaches here.We are ready to do it now as we believe we can bring lot of jobs and growth directly to Tawau and Sandakan. "So I will fly to Tawau right after this to announce to our staff," he told reporters after paying a courtesy call to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal on Friday (Oct 18). However, he said Kota Kinabalu would remain a priority hub as plans are afoot for KK-Seoul flights from next August. Fernandes reiterated their ongoing plan to push the re-opening of Kota Kinabalu International Airport Terminal 2 (KKIA2), where AirAsia formerly operated before its shift to KKIA Terminal 1 under the Transport Ministry's order. "We can do so much in KK if we can get Terminal 2 reopened, but I want to start developing Sandakan, Tawau as well as Sarawak. "The meeting with the CM was also to relay if we can get Terminal 2, we can grow to 15 million passengers (from the current eight million passengers), our estimate is to create 33,000 jobs and bring in RM150bil into Sabah's economy. It is such a waste to see the empty terminal. "If you move us back, it also allows Terminal 1 to bring in more airlines like Qatar Airways and Emirates, so you need to do this to release capacity," he added. Asked about the current development for such discussions, Tony said he remained optimistic and believed they are "making headway" as the Transport Ministry is opened to talks. Asked about Shafie's response to shifting AirAsia's operations back to Terminal 2, he said,"I think he is supportive, but the ball is in Malaysia Airports (court). It is something the state and federal level have to work out. "But one of the reasons why the idea was put (on the backburner) because there was talk about building a new airport in Kota Kinabalu. "But that would take five to seven years to materialise. That is why we continued the discussion about Terminal 2," he added. He said expanding the airport's capacity was crucial in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2020. AirAsia currently operates 511 weekly flights into Kota Kinabalu. Source: The Star Online
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28Jun

Govt plans cultural centre in Tawau: Liew

TAWAU: Deputy Chief Minister cum State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Christina Liew said the State Government plans to set up a cultural centre in Tawau to attract more local and foreign visitors for the sake of boosting the local economy and tourism industry. Christina, who is also Tawau MP, believes such as a centre would help to promote cultural tourism pertaining to Malaysia’s unique blend of diversity. She also invited smallholders or farmers who have fruit gardens, floral gardens or land in Tawau to develop it as a tourist hotspot, including making it as homestays for tourists. She was speaking while attending a welcome dinner cum Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration jointly held by the Tawau Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Tawau Reporters Association at a hotel here recently where about 250 members and guests attended. The welcome dinner was held for the new district council president Datuk Ir. Amrullah Kamal, his new deputy president Koh Kian Leong and the new district police chief, ACP Peter AK Umbuas. She said the government together with the tourism and hospitality industry players must play their roles to increase the number of hotels, restaurants, tour buses etc. in order to fulfil the demands of tourists. “Tawau has potential to reap the economic benefits of tourism but just not ready yet with the insufficient amenities to meet the demands of tourists”. She said the cleanliness at the surrounding, particularly the washrooms at Tawau Airport should be maintained to create a positive image among tourists,” she explained. She also disclosed that the government plans to launch medical tourism and sports tourism. Chairman of Tawau Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Chia Seong Fatt hoped, that the newly appointed council president and deputy president would continue to bring Tawau towards greatest level as the district was far behind Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. He hoped that the council would work together with elected representatives to upgrade infrastructure and solve the people problems in Tawau. Chia also hoped that the new police chief and his team will strengthen public security and cross border control in Tawau so that the people can live and work in peace. President of Tawau Reporters Association, Hiew Chee Hing hoped the council and police could work closely with reporters as well as respect press freedom in news coverage. Meanwhile, the Tawau Reporters Association also appointed Kent Lim as the association’s honorary chairman. Source: Daily Express
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06Mar

Tawau folks urged to work with Govt on tourism

TAWAU: Deputy Chief Minister-cum-State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew encouraged more Tawau folks to step out and work together with the State Government in developing Tawau’s tourism industry. Christina said the State government is always ready to cooperate with the Tawau community in seeking their opinions and suggestions on the growth of the tourism sector. They are always welcomed to submit their proposals or to participate in a brainstorming session with the Sabah Tourism Board. Apart from that, they could also write into the office of Tawau parliamentary office if they had any issues. She contributed RM20,000 in education aid for the Sabah Chinese High School (SCHS), here, Tuesday in a conjunction with the school’s Chinese New Year festival celebration. The fund was presented by Chief Communication Officer-cum-Apas Community Development Leader Fung Thin Yein to the Chairman of the School Board of Director Chia Yaw and his treasurer Wai Teck Chong.
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19Feb

Suitable approach to bring tourists to Tawau

TAWAU: A suitable approach will be taken to bring more tourists, especially from China, to this district, said State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew (pic). According to her, who is also the Tawau MP, the matter has become her priority in an effort to further boost the economy in the district for the benefit of its population. “I will indeed work harder to ensure more tourists, especially from China, visit the east coast area (of Sabah) to spend one or two nights in Tawau,” she said at the Chinese New Year celebration of Tawau constituency, here, Sunday night.   Hence, she added tourism agencies and tour operators of the State were urged to play a role and work together in order to realise this wish. According to her, this district has interesting tourist attractions, handicraft and cultural products and a wide selection of seafood. Speaking on the event, Liew said the Chinese New Year that was celebrated across the country is among the events that could help to unite the nation of different races and religions. “Malaysia, in particular Sabah, has many celebrations according to local beliefs and celebrated together, which also proves that we live in harmony,” she added. - Bernama Source: Daily Express
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