LAHAD DATU NEEDS NEW AIRPORT TO BOOST ITS TOURISM POTENTIAL - MALAYSIAN TOURISM MINISTER

KOTA KINABALU (Sabah), April 13 (Bernama) -- Lahad Datu, which is 403 km from the Sabah state capital here, is in need of a new and bigger airport to boost its tourism potential, Malaysian Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Mohamaddin Ketapi said. He said this was because the existing airport could only accommodate and manage the operations of small aircraft, such as the ATR and Fokker. “A lot needs to be done (to boost the tourism potential) in Lahad Datu. The runway at the existing airport, for example, can only accommodate small aircraft and not the bigger ones. “Hence, I am proposing for the construction of a new airport to accommodate bigger aircraft which will bring in more tourists to Lahad Datu,” he told reporters after being interviewed on SabahFM radio here Saturday. The minister said Lahad Datu has numerous spots with vast potential to be turned into tourist destinations in Sabah, including the Danum Valley, the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, and the latest discovery of the iconic scuba diving known as the ‘Blue Hole’ or the ‘Blue Ring Reef’ at the pristine Darvel Bay. “We will definitely promote Lahad Datu and those interesting places to be visited there,” he said. -- BERNAMA