Kota Kinabalu: Jin Air, South Korea’s low-cost carrier, resumed its operations from Incheon to Kota Kinabalu with a full load of 185 passengers on Thursday.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said the full flight from South Korea was a positive indicator that Koreans are anxious to visit the State.
“We are confident that with the improved Covid-19 situation, Koreans would want to come here as they did in the past.
“Before the pandemic, we had 65 flights weekly from Korean cities to Sabah,” said Jafry who greeted the passengers, including Jin Air Branch Manager Park Jeong Hoon with goodie bags at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, here.
“We hope these flights will return and we look forward to (receiving tourists from) other destinations. Sabah will work together with the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture (Motac) to boost visitor arrivals which will have a positive impact on the local economy,” he said.
Jin Air is the third foreign airline to resume direct flight to Kota Kinabalu after Singapore’s Scoot and Royal Brunei Airlines.
In congratulating Sabah on its strong tourism development, Tourism, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Santhara said his Ministry would continue to collaborate with the Sabah Tourism Board to promote Sabah and its new products to the Korean market.
“In 2019, we had over 600,000 Koreans visiting Malaysia with about 390,000 of them making their way to Sabah. This is an indication that Kota Kinabalu is an essential destination,” he said.
Also present to greet the passengers at the airport were State Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai; Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry Permanent Secretary Datuk Sr Yusrie Abdullah; Sabah Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer Noredah Othman and Chief Marketing Officer Tay Shu Lan; Malaysia Airports Berhad (Corporate Office) Acing Senior General Mansger Tuan Kamaruzzaman Razali; Motac delegates and Tourism Malaysia Sabah.
