The Penang International Airport (PIA) is one of the important gateways in the Northern Region of Malaysia.
In view of this, the Penang state government has called on Putrajaya to include PIA in the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Malaysia and Singapore that is set to take effect beginning Nov 29, 2021.
Penang State Exco for Tourism and Creative Economy, Yeoh Soon Hin said that PIA’s inclusion in the Malaysia-Singapore VTL will be a strong anchor to attract more air traffic from Singapore, which will then be a booster Malaysia’s economy, particularly for Penang, Kedah, Perlis and Perak.
“As a manufacturing hub boasting the label as the Silicon Valley of the East, introducing VTL in PIA will also see benefits to our manufacturing landscape that comprises an arsenal of multinational companies,” he said in a press statement.
He noted that the launch of VTL between these two nations marks a ground-breaking moment for Malaysia’s international tourism market that has been stagnated since March 2020 in view of the infectious outbreak.
“The launch of VTL in KLIA is much welcomed, but I believe that PIA should also be included considering its position as an important gateway to northern Peninsular Malaysia,”
“Launching VTL in two cities concurrently can double the pace of economic recovery and reboot our battered industries, particularly the services sector that is constituted of food and beverage, hotels, tourism operators and etc,” he added.
While speaking about public safety and industry preparedness, Yeoh cited that Penang’s adult population vaccination rate has achieved 99%; total population (83.1%) as of 9 November 2021.
He also noted that most of Penang’s tourism frontliners are fully vaccinated through tailored vaccination programmes championed by his administration since July 2021.
Meanwhile, Yeoh shared that the international air route between Changi International Airport and PIA recorded 107 flights per week during pre-Covid days in November 2019, which he believes is a commendable figure that must be considered by Putrajaya.
He added that launching VTL in 2 different international airports of the country will ensure a balanced economic recovery, benefitting the nation as a whole.
“Putting PIA in the VTL list doesn’t only benefit Penang per se, but also other neighboring states, which are all dependent on PIA as the only international airport for traffic and business opportunities,” he said.