By DayakDaily Team
BINTULU, Oct 13: Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture Malaysia Dato Sri Tiong King Sing hopes to establish flights from Russia to East Malaysia, allowing Russian visitors to travel more conveniently not only to Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, but also to other destinations in Malaysia.
In a Facebook post, Tiong said this followed a meeting with Aeroflot—Russia’s flag carrier and largest airline—where he introduced Sabah’s tourism offerings and suggested that Kota Kinabalu and Tawau be included in future studies on air connectivity and market development.
During the meeting, they also discussed the possibility of linking Moscow and St Petersburg with Kuala Lumpur, as well as explored the use of China’s existing air network, including connections via Hainan, to link Russian travelers with Langkawi and other destinations in Malaysia.
“Aeroflot explained that the deployment of long-haul wide-body aircraft and route operating conditions remain challenges for the launch of a direct Kuala Lumpur service. However, the airline expressed interest in exploring connections to Malaysia via China.
“It is also willing to consider partnerships with relevant airlines, using its domestic Russian network and sales channels to provide passenger support for such flights,” said Tiong, who is also the assemblyman for Dudong and MP for Bintulu.
He added that China Eastern Airlines has long operated routes between China and Russia and already has an established operating presence and passenger base in the Russian market.
Its network covers Russian cities including Moscow, St Petersburg, and Kazan, while its Shanghai Pudong–St Petersburg service has been increased in frequency this year, and China Eastern has also indicated its willingness to participate in the proposed cooperation.
“Malaysia will therefore continue discussions with China Eastern, Aeroflot and other aviation industry players on specific cooperation models.
“This includes making use of existing China-Russia air routes to connect travelers to Malaysia through Chinese gateways, as well as studying flight connections, passenger feed arrangements, interline cooperation and joint marketing,” he said.
Tiong said he also contacted Batik Air to hold preliminary discussions on its possible participation in the connectivity plan.
“We now have several possible directions to pursue. Apart from studying direct flights and charter services between Malaysia and Russia, we can also make use of China Eastern’s existing China-Russia network to explore connections to Malaysia via China. China Eastern already operates services to Russia and has expressed its interest in participating.
“We are therefore not starting from scratch, but looking at how to connect existing aviation networks and passenger markets more effectively,” he said. — DayakDaily
