Tourist arrivals in Mersing are expected to increase rapidly in future, following the Johor state government's plan to build an airport there.

The proposed airport is aimed at improving connectivity between Mersing, located about 130km from Johor Bahru city, and the surrounding areas.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the proposal had been submitted to the federal government for consideration.

"Indeed, we (state government) had requested to build an airport in Mersing, and the Transport Ministry is studying it.

"In addition, we also plan to build an airport in Pontian but this is a part of a long-term plan and has just been discussed at the state level only and not yet proposed to the federal government," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after attending the Johor MCA Chinese New Year celebration at the Central Johor Bahru Municipal Council (MPJBT) hall, here, Tuesday.

Also present were MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and deputy president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.

Meanwhile, Liow who is also Transport Minister, when asked to comment on the matter, said the plan was submitted to his ministry through a meeting, recently.

"For now we have two choices, either to build a new airport in Tioman Island (Pahang) or in Mersing because we want to boost the tourism sector in both places," he said.

On another matter, Liow said the ministry was giving full support to Mohamed Khaled's leadership to continue to bring change to the state in terms of economy, politics and so on.

"Since he took office, there have been several plans and programmes implemented that Johor is now experiencing rapid economic growth.

"The development of the High Speed Rail (HSR) is also in progress and I'm sure this will raise the people's living standards, including the Chinese community's here," he said. -- BERNAMA