AirAsia’s new direct flights from Shantou and Kaohsiung boost Sabah’s connectivity, aiding its ambitious 3 million visitor target for 2024.
KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA – Sabah is set to achieve 3.0 million target arrivals, with two new additional flights by AirAsia serving direct connectivity from Shantou and Kaohsiung to Kota Kinabalu, on 16 and 17 November, respectively.
Sabah received passengers from Shantou followed by Kaohsiung the next day with a healthy load. Both flights were greeted with a water salute ceremony, marking their inaugural landing at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA).
AirAsia added another destination from Taiwan City to Kota Kinabalu with the commencement of its latest flight from Kaohsiung.
Shantou becomes the 9th city in China to establish direct flights to Kota Kinabalu, joining Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing and Kunming. This new route will operate three times a week, bringing the total number of weekly direct flights from China to Kota Kinabalu to 55.
The commencement of the Kaohsiung direct flight to Kota Kinabalu will be the second Taiwan city connected to Sabah after Taipei, also operated by AirAsia (AK).
Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Panglima Christina Liew welcomed both flights to Sabah and thanked AirAsia for the consistent partnership to make Sabah more accessible to international travellers.
Sabah Tourism Board, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Tay Shu Lan (middle), with Primus Bin Poyoh, Ground Red Team Station Head (8th from left), Jefry Ramli, Senior Airport Manager (9th from left), Khairul Amir B. Annual, Deputy Director Tourism Malaysia Sabah (9th from right), Aboni Loong, Sabah Tourism Board Marketing Manager (8th from right) and Joshua Sanjan, AirAsia Senior Marketing Executive (7th from right) welcoming the Kaohsiung inaugural flight.
Liew said that the Shantou route aligns with Sabah’s efforts to diversify and expand its tourism market to second and third tier cities in China.
“The launch of Shantou flight will potentially attract more tourists from neighbouring cities as well, such as Chaozhou, Huizhou, Meizhou, Xiamen, Shanwei, and Quanzhou, which have a combined population of over 31.4 million in Southern China,” she said.
On the Kaohsiung-Kota Kinabalu direct flight, Liew said it connects more tourists from Southern Taiwan to Sabah. “This creates an opportunity to attract tourists from nearby cities like Tainan, Pingtung, and Yunlin,” she added.
In July, Sabah announced a strategic five-year partnership with AirAsia to enhance its tourism industry. This collaboration will involve closer cooperation between the airline and Sabah Tourism, with the aim of developing Kota Kinabalu International Airport into a regional aviation hub.
Julinus Jeffery Jimit (center), Chief Executive Officer of the Sabah Tourism Board, welcomes a passenger from the SWA-BKI flight with a traditional garland, celebrating their arrival in Sabah.
Dato’ Captain Fareh Mazputra, Managing Director of AirAsia Malaysia said: “We are thrilled to continuously contribute to the tourism growth in Kota Kinabalu, our second-largest hub in Malaysia. These new routes allow us to fly more guests between both nations, leveraging the visa-free initiative by the government and AirAsia’s vast network providing opportunities for Chinese travellers to explore all that Kota Kinabalu has to offer. As an airline with the biggest market share in Sabah, we look forward to supporting the state’s tourism growth and playing our role in helping STB to achieve its vision of reaching three million visitors by the end of this year.”
Sabah Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer, Julinus Jeffery Jimit, highlighted that Sabah’s rich nature and cultural diversity allow for a variety of travel experiences.
“Increasing accessibility to Sabah supports our goal of making tourism a key driver of success in the Sabah Maju Jaya plan. At the same time, this aligns with our efforts to gear up towards Visit Malaysia Year, set to take place in 2026,” said Julinus.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
