141 fly to Langkawi from Ipoh on maiden flight

IPOH: A total of 141 passengers, including 23 children, took off on the first flight from the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport here today to Langkawi under the travel bubble pilot project.

Perak Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transport Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Zolkafly Harun said AirAsia is offering Ipoh-Langkawi-Ipoh flights thrice a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays starting today.

"The flight to Langkawi uses an Airbus A320 aircraft with a maximum capacity of 180 passengers and the maiden flight at about 1.30 pm today had a load of 80 per cent," he told a media conference at the airport here today.

Also present were public health medical specialist Dr. Mohd Zamri Md Ali and Ipoh Malaysia Airport Berhad manager Tugiman Sabudin.

Mohd Zolkafly said passengers were required to undergo a COVID-19 screening test and those who tested positive were not allowed to continue their journey, after which they would be subjected to existing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for case management.

According to Mohd Zolkafly, over 50 per cent of the flight capacity or more than 70 passengers have so far booked their seats for the next Langkawi flights on Sunday and Wednesday.

He said the state government had also taken various measures to restore the confidence of tourists to visit Perak, include implementing specific vaccination programmes for tourism industry players.

"A lot of preparations have been done to ensure that the domestic tourism sector is active again and ready to receive visitors and tourists, especially when our state borders are fully opened," he said.

-- BERNAMA