PASSENGER and cargo traffic through the Senai International Airport in Johor is expected to grow significantly this year, driven by new airline services and projected new investments in Johor's Iskandar region.

 

Last year, the number of passengers using the airport fell 10 per cent to 1.47 million, while cargo volume dropped sharply to 5,200 tonnes due to the global economic crisis.

 

"A successful economic region like Iskandar will need good air and sea connectivity to facilitate the import of raw materials and export of finished goods.

 

"(As such,) additional cargo connectivity will not only further increase the air cargo volume at Senai Airport, but complement Iskandar's effort to transform the region into an integrated logistics and tourism hub," Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd (SATS) deputy chief executive officer Shahrull Allam Shah Abdul Halim told Business Times in an interview.

 

SATS, a unit of MMC Corp, has a 50-year concession to maintain, operate and develop the Senai Airport.

 

Currently, airlines operating out of the airport comprise Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Firefly, while cargo airlines include MASkargo and Qatar Airways Cargo.

 

Senai Airport has a handling capacity of 4.5 million passengers and 100,000 tonnes of cargo per year.

 

"We have plans to grow the airport and attract new airlines and freighters. We are looking at regional cargo to increase our air cargo volumes," Shahrull said.

 

The airport operator expects passenger traffic to increase to 1.6 million by 2014, taking into account projected population growth within the Iskandar region from 1.4 million in 2005 to three million by 2025.

 

Cargo volume, meanwhile, will grow to 40,000 tonnes a year, spurred by existing and new services from foreign freighters.

 

SATS has a 20-year master- plan for developing the airport. The masterplan, from 2003 to 2023, will be developed in phases.

 

Under the first phase, which has been duly completed, and the second phase, which is expected to complete by mid-2010, SATS will enhance passenger and cargo facilities and set up a logistics and aviation park within the airport.

 

The third phase, commencing in the current quarter, is to develop a free zone, cargo and logistics hub, high-tech industry park and a mixed development. Dubbed "Senai Airport City", these developments will cost over RM5 billion.

 

Shahrull said activities from the Senai Airport City are expected to help develop critical mass for Senai Airport.

 

Once completed, Senai Airport will not just be a passenger airport to cater for the southern states of Malaysia, it will also offer a complete air cargo logistics, industrial and high tech facility within the Airport City.

 

SATS, together with Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and Johor Port will form an integrated logistics hub and provide the sea-air connectivity to facilitate the movement of goods in and out of Johor and south of Malaysia.