By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 18: Efforts are underway to establish direct flights between Germany and Malaysia, says Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Dato Seri Tiong King Sing.
In a Facebook post today, he said that Heiko Reitz, who is the chief customer officer of one of the largest airlines in Europe and German aviation group, Lufthansa Group, has stated that Kuala Lumpur has always been one of the main destinations in their plans for direct flight routes.
“But one of the key constraints is the shortage of long-haul aircraft and delays in the delivery of new planes, which has hindered the plans for direct flights from Germany to Kuala Lumpur.
“However, he said that Lufthansa is continuously monitoring the situation and is working to expedite the implementation of the route as soon as conditions permit,” he said.
Additionally, Tiong said that TUI Group, a German multinational leisure, travel, and tourism company, is also willing to strengthen flight connections between Germany and Malaysia and is ready to collaborate with their airline partners in Arab countries.
“Although TUI has a large fleet of aircraft, they do not operate long-haul planes, making the opening of a direct route from Germany to Malaysia a challenge that needs to be carefully studied,” he said.
Tiong, who is also Bintulu MP and Dudong assemblyman, said these findings followed meetings during a recent visit to Germany.
He said that Germany is the third-largest source of European tourists to Malaysia. In 2024, the number of German tourists to Malaysia increased by 19.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, which translates to an increase of 25,627 people.
“This figure is the highest among European countries and makes Germany a key market to meet the targets of Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026),” he said.
Meanwhile, on travel advisories to Sabah’s east coast, which are yet to be lifted by European countries such as France, Switzerland, and Germany, Tiong acknowledged that the advisories were issued several years ago following security incidents in the waters of Semporna, which were frequently disrupted by pirate activities.
“However, after the Malaysian government implemented various security measures, including deploying armed security forces in high-risk areas, Sabah, especially Semporna, is now safe to visit. In fact, many foreign diplomats have visited the area for security assessments,” he said.
He added that the issue would be brought to the Cabinet and that he would seek cooperation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that formal negotiations with the respective countries could be held.
“This travel advisory has a significant impact on tourism interests because travellers from these countries will not be covered by insurance in case of any incidents.
“Therefore, we need to intensify efforts to ensure that this advisory is lifted, especially considering that the beaches and islands in Sabah are major attractions for European tourists,” he said. — DayakDaily
