Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is now connected to 10 major Chinese cities following the resumption of the direct flight from Kunming to Kota Kinabalu. State Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who is also Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Chairman, welcomed the inaugural Kunming flight operated by AirAsia at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Thursday morning.
While China remains a significant market for Sabah, Joniston said, STB is pursuing new market opportunities.
“We are in constant discussions with our airline partners, particularly AirAsia, to establish Sabah as a key travel hub in Borneo. We want to explore new markets like Vietnam, India and Central Asia, and are planning to resume direct flights from Australia, among others.
“With the Nusantara (Indonesia’s new capital city) development underway, we need to build a strong hub portfolio and capture every market that will lead to more exciting international routes,” he said in a statement.
The Kunming-Kota Kinabalu route will operate three times weekly, complementing other AirAsia direct routes to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Beijing and Ningbo. Additionally, Xiamen Air operates the Fuzhou-Kota Kinabalu route.
AirAsia is actively working to connect Sabah with more cities, including Shantou (China) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan), expected to launch in November, and it has also begun promoting a new route from Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) to Kota Kinabalu, expected to commence in December.
Other international routes operated by AirAsia include key Southeast Asian destinations such as Singapore, Manila, Jakarta, Bali, and Manado, as well as Taipei and Seoul.
Other airlines serving international direct flights to Sabah are Air Busan (Busan-Kota Kinabalu), Scoot (Singapore-Kota Kinabalu), Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai-Kota Kinabalu), China Southern (Guangzhou-Kota Kinabalu), and Royal Brunei (Bandar Seri Begawan-Kota Kinabalu).
From January to July this year, Sabah welcomed 262,070 visitors from China, achieving 70 per cent of pre-pandemic arrival levels.
Bruneians and South Koreans follow closely, with 124,521 and 106,573 arrivals respectively, making them Sabah’s top three international tourist markets.
