Commentary: Does Singapore really need such a short flight to Melaka?

POTENTIAL BUS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN AIRPORTS

A Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR line would also be a gamechanger for the Singapore-Melaka market as the train would stop in Melaka. But when researching the white paper, I never imagined Singapore-Melaka would be considered in the current environment as a potential airline route.

Buses now frequently connect Singapore with Melaka in as little as four hours. As some netizens pointed out, the door-to-door travel time on the bus takes about the same amount of time as the new flight. Driving a car can be quicker, depending on traffic conditions.

The new Scoot flights will be mostly aimed at transit passengers, but are connecting flights at Changi Airport the best option for passengers travelling from other countries to Melaka?

A direct bus from Changi Airport to central Melaka – preferably an electric bus – would be a more sustainable option for such passengers. Melaka visitors from outside the region already have the option of flying to KLIA and hopping on one of the many buses that run from KLIA to Melaka in about two and a half hours.

In future it may be possible to even provide airside bus connections from Melaka Airport to both KLIA and Changi Airport. These would enable passengers to proceed directly to international airports without having to go through immigration until they reach their destination.

Such buses are now used to connect several airports in North America. For example, passengers can board secured buses to Philadelphia International Airport after going through security at the small airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, or Atlantic City, New Jersey. Just like when taking two flights, bags are transferred from the bus to the connecting flight.

At Hong Kong International Airport, there are now secured airside buses to and from Macau as well as Zhuhai.

Authorities from Singapore and Malaysia would have to agree on such a concept. While this seems unlikely – even a landside bus from Singapore to Johor’s Senai Airport was rejected several years ago – the increased importance of sustainability could result in logic prevailing over politics.

Currently there are only landside buses from Changi Airport to Johor Bahru with passengers required to go through immigration at Changi and again at the Johor-Singapore Causeway.