Firefly’s inaugural flight to Sandakan
Published on: Wednesday, May 17, 2023
By: Winnie Kasmir
Water cannon welcoming Firefly at Sandakan Airport on Tuesday
SANDAKAN: Firefly, the low-cost carrier subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines; made its inaugural flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan on Tuesday.
According to President of Sandakan Tourism Association (Stan), Teo Chee Kim, flight connectivity is absolutely vital to the development of tourism industry, especially for Sabah and Sandakan, as nearly all tourist arrivals are via air transport.
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“We have been eagerly awaiting Firefly’s arrival to Sandakan as part of its intra-Borneo services.
“With greater flight frequency and higher capacity offered by Firefly’s B737-800, we believe that more tourists, both domestic and international, who choose to transit via Kota Kinabalu, can now hop over to Sandakan more conveniently and at more attractive air fares.
“More tourists can now visit our popular eco-tourism spots and come up close and personal with the iconic orang-utan, proboscis monkey, pygmy elephant and Bornean Sun Bear,” he said.
Teo was met by reporters after the welcome reception for Firefly inaugural flight to Sandakan at Sandakan Airport on Tuesday.
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Also present to welcome passengers of Firefly at the airport were Member of Parliament for Sandakan, Vivian Wong, and Elopura Assemblyman, Calvin Chong.
Among those who disembarked from the inaugural flight was Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan.
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Commenting further, Teo said Stan is working very closely with airlines such as Malaysia Airline, Firefly, AirAsia, Malindo and Royal Brunei.
“We believe that air connectivity is very important to Sandakan tourism industry. That is why we hope to pitch and lobby more airline come to Sandakan, that will be further growing our tourism industry,” he added.
Meanwhile, commenting on the tourism sector in Sandakan, Teo said the industry had just restarted.
“There are lot of things we need to start from zero, but first we have to make people confident to travel again.
“As for tourism players, they need to spend resources to renovate their rooms and facilities in order to present the best for visitors.
“Furthermore, we are in the process of updating our Stan tourist guides,” he said.
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