COUNTRIES SHOULD COME TOGETHER TO SET UP AIRLINE HUBS - MAHATHIR

By Santhia Thevi Panjanadan

PUTRAJAYA, June 18 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Dr Mahathir
Mohamad has proposed that countries should come together to set up airline hubs
to derive more benefits and increase inter-connectivity.

He said when several countries decided to form a hub, they could build the
kind of support that would enable airlines to fly to a region, instead of merely
a country.

Dr Mahathir said there were limited airline hubs in regions due to countries
being too nationalistic and refused to cooperate with each other.

"Several countries should come together and agree to have a hub in one of
the countries.

"If you do that, believe me, in the future, it will not only be Johannesburg
as the only hub but also hubs in the south, central and north of the African
continent, four regions can work together to build and jointly-owned a hub," he
said.

Dr Mahathir was responding to a question on the lack of access and airline
infrastructure in African countries during a question-and-answer session
after delivering a keynote address at the Malaysia-Africa Business Forum here
Saturday.

Citing the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as a hub now, he said
previously Kuala Lumpur was second to Singapore in airline operations but over
time, due to increased passenger traffic the demand for a hub in Kuala Lumpur
arose.

Meanwhile, responding to a statement from the floor on African students and
graduates in Malaysia facing obstacles in carrying out practical training and
gaining work experiences locally, Dr Mahathir said the Langkawi International
Dialogue delegates could form a committee to discuss problems faced by Africans
in Malaysia and vice-versa.

-- BERNAMA