Sabah will work with any airline: Masidi
Published on: Friday, July 22, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah will work with any airline to ensure its tourism industry continues to enjoy an increase of foreign visitor arrivals through direct flights to Kota Kinabalu.Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said even though the State is always supportive of the national carrier, Malaysia Airlines, it is a level playing field when it comes to tourism."I want to emphasise here that we can work with any airline in the world. Of course, being Malaysians we want to help our national airline, but when it comes to the tourism industry, we will work with any airline to ensure we have many arrivals in Sabah," he said when announcing Jeju Air's inaugural direct flight to Kota Kinabalu from Incheon, Seoul, Thursday.ADVERTISEMENT He said Sabah has so far seen a tremendous increase of tourist arrivals, especially from China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, and owes this success to its ability to work with various airlines.He disclosed that to date there are 16 international destinations directly to Kota Kinabalu with 154 international flights every week. As for domestic flights, there are 381 excluding those within the State. He also disclosed that passenger load has indicated an increase as well with 75.8 per cent this year as of April compared with 65.4 per cent during the corresponding period in 2015. South Korean market recorded 87 per cent during the first four months this year compared with 81.3 per cent last year.On Jeju Air's maiden flight to Kota Kinabalu, Masidi said the number of arrivals from South Korea is poised to increase. ADVERTISEMENT The airline operates direct flights from Incheon to Kota Kinabalu daily.So far, he said there have been 63,258 visitors from South Korea coming to the State in the first four months this year compared with 47,777 in the same corresponding period last year.
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In 2015, a total of 138,867 South Koreans visited Sabah, an increase of 21.6 per cent from the previous year. Tourism receipts also increased to RM550 million from RM479 million.Jeju Air, which made its inaugural flight to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) midnight Thursday with 195 passengers and crew members, is the fourth Korea-based airline to operate direct flights to the State. Others are Eastarjet, Asiana Airlines and Jin Air. Altogether, the total seat capacity has reached close to 5,000."I have confidence Jeju Air will do well. If you look at the other airlines from Korea, they have even gone for bigger body aircrafts for a certain period because of high demand," he said. Masidi also reiterated his confidence that the State tourism industry will continue to grow especially now that it is a strong magnet to visitors from the northern Asia countries. China, he said, still rank top in number of arrivals to Sabah with 117,569 during the first four months of this year alone. Last year, the figure was 75,451 in the same corresponding period. Taiwan ranks second highest, followed by South Korea. "One of the reasons for the high number of arrivals from China is because now there is better connectivity between Kota Kinabalu and the rest of China. In fact, some of the airlines that were operating three and four times weekly are now doing it daily," he added. He said airlines coming from the northern countries of Asia, namely China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, have contributed 54 per cent of arrivals to the State.Expecting further increase of arrivals, the Minister said he hoped new hotels in the State would be ready earliest by next year to cater for the high demand.However, he pointed out that in order to sustain the airlines' operation and profitability, outbound travels from Kota Kinabalu must be promoted."Not only we want the South Koreans to come but we must also encourage Sabahans to go there (South Korea) and use their airline. It's a two-way street," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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He recalled there used to be a direct Malaysian Airline flight from Perth to Kota Kinabalu, but the business failed because only few Malaysians made an attempt to fly to the Australian city. Also present during Thursday's press announcement were Jeju Air Vice President Lee Seok Joo, the airline's Assistant Manager Cheon Kyu Park, Sabah Tourism Board Chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai and Sabah Tourism Board General Manager Gordon Yapp.