Gulf airlines to boost flights to Malaysia

Gulf Air and Qatar Airways will increase flights to Malaysia during the coming months to meet demands in the tourist industry.

Aviation specialists in the UAE have said the number of flights to Malaysia will increase during the coming months. Gulf Air will increase the number of flights from three to five a week to accommodate the increase in tourists. Qatar Airways is still considering the number of flights it will add.

"Discussions are taking place with Oman Air, Yemen Air, Qatar Air and others. Malaysia Airlines is being restructured at the moment. Since the tourist industry began activities in 1998, the number of tourists visiting Malaysia increased from 5.5 million to some 12.1 million for the year 2001," said Dato Abdul Kadir Bin H.J. Sheikh Fadzir, the Malaysian Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism.

Most tourists to Malaysia are from West Asia. Arab tourists who travelled to Malaysia in 2001 numbered 120,000.

Following the September 11 attacks, travel to Malaysia was affected. The number of tourists dropped by half. In the second half of September there was a rise of 30 per cent. In October, it dropped to 40 per cent, but in November and December rose to normal levels.

Malaysia's popularity for Middle East tourists has increased. Some Arab Muslims have transferred their children from U.S. educational institutions to Malaysia where there are university programmes from England, France, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

The Malaysian Government opened Malaysia to tourism in 1998, following the 1997 economic crisis. The government decided that tourism was an added prop that could support the economy at a downturn.

The government rejected suggestions from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to increase interest on companies to achieve economic stability at the time, and introduced capital control. There was a 40 per cent devaluation on the currency and there was a strong reserve.

Recently, the IMF admitted that their suggestions were not suited for Malaysia. "Every country has its own circumstances, the IMF cannot apply a formula for all nations alike," said Dato Abdul Kadir.

He was accompanied by Malaysian ambassador to the UAE, Syed Hussein Al Habshee; Bashir Ahmad, aviation advisor; Aminuddin A.B. Hamid, deputy director of marketing to the Middle East; and Sabarudin Ismail, area manager for the UAE and the Gulf.