Materia Medica Malaysiana

Senai Airport eyeing lucrative health tourism market

THE Malaysian state of Johor, which is forging ahead with plans to help its Senai Airport have a bigger bite of the air passenger and cargo pie, is eyeing the health tourism market too.

The chairman of Johor's Tourism and Environment Committee, Mr Freddie Long, indicated its ambitious plans yesterday at a media conference at the official opening of Senai Airport's new lounge in Johor Baru.

The state, which has 12 hospitals, wants to increase the number of patients they get and is targeting those from Indonesia in particular.

About 55,000 Indonesians visited Malaysia for medical treatment last year.

Close to half went to Malacca for treatment.

Mr Long said Senai Airport, which is about 30km north of Singapore, would be used as the entry point into Malaysia.

The airport, Changi Airport's closest challenger, handled 600,000 passengers in the first five months of the year.

Three in 10 of its passengers came from Singapore.

By August, when its $22 million air cargo complex will open, it plans to make a push for more of the air freight market as well.

The new complex will be able to handle 80,000 tonnes of freight a year.

Mr Long stressed that the plans to transform Senai from a sleepy town into a transport, logistics and medical hub are not an attempt to challenge the might of Changi Airport or Singapore.

'Changi has its own efficiencies with world standards,' he said.

'Senai is a child and you can't compare a child with an adult. But of course a child also has his own ambitions,' he added.

Still, observers say that competition would be inevitable if Senai sets out to develop the same capabilities Singapore is aiming for.

For example, many businesses at the Johor town's industrial park now move their goods through Changi.

And it is these businesses that Mr Mohamad Sidik Shaik Osman, director of Senai Airport Terminal Services, is hoping to win over.

He told The Straits Times: 'They came because of our low costs, so why would they want to pay more and send their goods through Singapore if we can offer them good service?'

He would not discuss potential clients, only saying that talks are on about using Senai's cargo facilities.

Last year, Changi Airport saw close to 25 million passengers compared to its Senai counterpart's of about one million.

And while Senai Airport's long-term goal is to handle 500,000 tonnes of cargo a year, Changi dealt with more than 1.6 million tonnes last year.

The team that developed the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) into a world-class facility will be working to make Senai Airport 'the pride of Johor'.

Senai Airport Terminal Services, which took over the running of the airport from the Malaysian government last November, is controlled by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, who also controls PTP.

While analysts expect some of Changi Airport's cargo business to move to Senai, they do not see Johor's ambitions posing a significant threat to Singapore's viability.

For instance, Mr Paul Coughlin, managing director of Standard & Poor's Asia-Pacific corporate and government ratings department, said: 'Competitors will come and peel off some of the business here and there, but I don't think any port or airport in the region can seriously compete with PSA Corporation and Changi.'

Singapore 'can't expect to forever dominate all market segments', he added, and while there is better connectivity in the Republic, some companies may move to Senai 'if the price is right'.

As for attracting the medical dollar, Singapore and Malaysia are not alone in their ambitions, Mr Coughlin said.

He pointed out that other countries, such as Thailand, India and Hong Kong, are also players in this 'very competitive' game.