Minister: Sarawak set to become regional umrah hub with inaugural flight to Saudi Arabia set for Aug 29
KUCHING, June 28 — Sarawak is set to become the regional umrah hub for Borneo, with the inaugural flight to Jeddah scheduled for August 29 this year, Tourism, Creative Industry and Performance Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah announced today.
He said the flight, using a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft, will depart Kuching with a stopover at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport before flying off to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, under the first phase of the Kuching umrah gateway (KUG) project.
“Under the first phase, it will be just one flight a week or if there are demands, then it will be increased,” Karim told reporters when announcing the inaugural flight.
He explained that the flight to Jeddah has to go through Kuala Lumpur as the Saudi Arabian civil aviation authority does not recognise direct flights originating from Kuching.
He said the second phase will start in October this year and hopes that by then, the Saudi Arabian authority will approve the landing rights from Kuching.
He added the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and ATS Global Travel and Charter Sdn Bhd (ATS) may use Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) for the flights to Keddah and Madinah.
He said the flights to Jeddah and later Madinah will be increased to three or five a week after the landing rights have been approved.
He said with Kuching as the umrah gateway, it will open doors to more than 230,000 pilgrims over the course of six years, from Malaysia, Kalimantan, Brunei, and the Southern Philippines.
Karim said the soft take-off on August 29, 2023, will come to fruition after working with relevant stakeholders along the supply chain, towards successful implementation of the KUG project.
He said he is confident that the connectivity through these initial seamless umrah arrangements will see an overwhelming increase in the number of visitors to Sarawak from the region, giving them a chance to experience all that the state has to offer.
