By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Dec 27: Malaysia’s international air connectivity continues to strengthen with more than 3,343 weekly international flights linking the country to 126 cities across 37 nations, bringing up to 674,000 passengers to 13 cities every week, and Kuching has emerged as the fifth busiest international gateway in the country, as the city has received 41 weekly flights.
According to Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, of the13 international cities in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur remains the main gateway with 2,775 weekly flights and a capacity of over 570,000 passengers.
Penang is the second busiest with 287 flights and 53,000 passengers, followed by Kota Kinabalu (132 flights, 24,000 passengers), and Johor Bahru (49 flights).
“Asean remains the biggest contributor with 1,799 direct weekly flights. In addition, 37 transit flights via Bali, Phuket, and Singapore continue their journey to Malaysia, bringing the total to 1,836 weekly flights. Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand record the highest number of weekly flights to Malaysia, with 679, 470, and 331 flights respectively,” he said.
Tiong, who is also the Bintulu MP and assemblyman for Dudong, said that overall, Asean flights can carry up to 335,000 passengers, over one-third of whom are from Indonesia. This figure also includes Australian passengers travelling via transit in Bali.
The second largest source of international flights is East Asia with 818 weekly flights, followed by South Asia (394), the Middle East (128), Oceania (106), Europe (43), Central Asia (14), and Africa (4).
China leads East Asia with 623 weekly flights carrying around 124,200 passengers, followed by Japan with 70 flights carrying nearly 20,000 passengers, plus 19 transit flights via Taipei.
South Asia can carry up to 77,500 passengers per week, while the Middle East accounts for nearly 40,000 passengers.
India has the strongest air connectivity with Malaysia in South Asia, with 232 weekly flights carrying up to 44,400 passengers.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, 128 weekly flights are led by the United Arab Emirates, with 53 flights carrying up to 16,000 passengers.
“A total of 76 airlines from 37 countries and territories now operate flights to Malaysia, including nine new airlines this year, with up to 40 new international routes to be launched in 2025.
“In addition to five local airlines, China stands out with 16 airlines, strengthening air links and opening access to more secondary cities,” he said. — DayakDaily
