By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Sept 29: To increase tourist arrivals in Malaysia, over 20 new international flight routes will be introduced beginning this month until the end of this year.
Federal Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) Dato Seri Tiong King Sing said the new international routes will cover the ASEAN, Asian, African, and European regions.
“Among them is the Kuala Lumpur-London direct flight route by British Airways, which will reopen on November 11 after several years of suspension.
“These new routes include 10 ASEAN international routes, with Singapore’s Scoot Airlines intending to open direct flights to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang and planning to introduce direct flights to Melaka.
“Other routes include Vietnam’s Da Nang to Kuala Lumpur; Indonesia’s Manado to Kota Kinabalu; and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City to Kota Kinabalu,” he said in a statement on social media yesterday (Sept 28).
Tiong further said in mid-December, China Eastern Airlines will launch daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Wenzhou and Xi’an.
“Additionally, direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Yuncheng and Changchun will be opened three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
“Not only that, the airline also plans to launch flights from Kuala Lumpur to Pudong and Harbin in January next year,” he revealed.
The network of new routes between Malaysia and China continues to grow well, including routes such as Kunming to Kota Kinabalu; Chongqing to KLIA2; Shenzhen to Penang; and Shantou to Kota Kinabalu by offering two direct flights daily from Guangzhou to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang and is expected to open routes between Kunming, Chengdu, and Kuala Lumpur before the end of the year.
Touching on AirAsia, Tiong said the airline will introduce new routes between Malaysia and Indonesia apart from new routes between India (Lucknow and New Delhi) and Kuala Lumpur, as well as between Kenya (Africa) and KLIA2, marking a new chapter in Malaysia-Africa tourism.
He also said LOT Poland, Lucky Air, Asiana Airlines, and Batik Air offer special charter flights tailored to meet specific market demands, including Warsaw (Poland) to Langkawi, Lijiang (China) to Kuala Lumpur, Incheon (South Korea) to Kota Kinabalu, and Kunming (China) to Penang.
As of August 2024, the number of international tourist arrivals to Malaysia reached 16,451,191 people, reflecting an increase of 29.5 per cent compared to the same corresponding period in 2023.
There were 3,223 direct flights to Malaysia every week in August 2024, offering 650,913 seats.
“This has boosted the tourism sector, and we need to ensure that the country is ready for the peak holiday season at the end of the year,” Tiong added. — DayakDaily
