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| Singapore to withstand Malaysian aviation competition: transport minister
SINGAPORE, Oct 7 (AFP) - Singapore will be able to withstand rising competition from Malaysia for a slice of the lucrative aviation market, Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said Tuesday amid plans from its neighbour to build a transport hub right on its doorstep. Yeo said Singapore was watching plans by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary to develop the Sultan Ismail Airport in Senai in the south Malaysian state of Johor into a regional aviation centre. BizVantage – Beyond the news: indepth on business, investment and technology. Johor is just across a short causeway from Singapore's northern border. "We will see what the plans are and how they operationalise the plans," Yeo told reporters on the sides of a maritime conference here. "But the market is here. The airlines serving Singapore will continue to be here for the long term. "We have spoken to them and the message they have given us is a very clear one: Singapore is an important market. They will be here as long as there are people in Singapore who are flying." Syed Mokhtar hopes to complete a 21-million-US-dollar deal this month to buy the Senai airport from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB). Senai airport has one runway measuring some 3,350 metres (11,000 feet) and can handle 2.5 million passengers annually. In 2002, the airport handled 874,278 passengers, 28,759 aircraft movements and 3,849 tonnes in cargo. Syed Mokhtar's company, Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd (SATS), plans to develop Senai into a regional air and cargo hub to complement the nearby Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), which the businessman also controls. With PTP already having attracted two of Singapore's top clients, Danish liner Maersk and Taiwan's Evergreen, Malaysia is emerging as a credible challenger both in terms of being an aviation hub and a regional port. Singapore's Changi Airport, consistently voted as one of the best in the world, handles 28 million passengers a year, many of them transiting to and from the region to the United States, Middle East and Europe. The rise of budget airlines in Asia could challenge flag-carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and lead to the emergence of other regional airports offering cheaper rates, according to industry players and analysts. Malaysian discount carrier AirAsia has already said it will start direct flights this month from Kuala Lumpur to Senai, later expanding to cover other parts of Malaysia. This would enable Singaporeans to fly to the Malaysian capital for only 9. 99 Singapore dollars -- less than a 15-dollar second-class train ticket. AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said last week the airline was in talks with Changi Airport officials in a bid to get lower charges so it can also fly out of Singapore. Fernandes said this would open Singapore's doors to the 23-million strong Malaysian tourism market but Yeo indicated Tuesday there would be no concessions. "The business is here... We have a very high-yielding market," he said, referring to the 28 million passengers annually who pass through Changi. "If you want the market, please come here. If not, other airlines will build the business." Yeo also said that SIA, which is recovering from the impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, was not yet prepared to join a venture with Thailand to set up a no-frills carrier based in the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had wanted to develop Chiang Mai as an aviation hub providing air links to neighbouring areas in China, Laos and Myanmar. SIA itself is currently studying the possibility of setting up its own discount subsidiary, while a former SIA executive has applied for a license to operate a budget airline called ValuAir out of Singapore. Yeo said ValuAir had submitted an incomplete application but officials of the upcoming airline said they will present the lacking documents soon. mba/dv Singapore-Malaysia-air
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