KOTA BARU: The federal government will always welcome any airline companies operating at the country's airports if they want to provide international flights, said Anthony Loke.
The transport minister said there would not be a problem for the government as all airports in the country have enough facilities.
"It is up to the airline company operators if they want to provide the international flights. The government has no problem with that.
"The government will not stop them from making the move as we have been practising an open policy.
"However, the operators must get the approval first from the relevant authorities," he told a Press conference here today.
Speaking to the press conference after opening the Phase 1 of Sultan Ismail Petra airport expansion project here today, Loke said the operators must get the approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia and Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom).
On the Sultan Ismail Petra airport's project, he said the government also has agreed to extend the runway by another 400 metres.
"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had said when he visited the airport recently, that the government has agreed to extend the runwayfrom 2,400 metres to 2,800 metres.
"This will help bring more flights to the airport" he added.
He said this move was requested by Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Nassuruddin in their meeting recently.