Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is seeing growing confidence from the China market, with airlines significantly expanding flight capacity between Shanghai and Kota Kinabalu ahead of the peak summer travel season.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said the expansion reflects strong demand from one of Sabah’s key international source markets, with Spring Airlines operating an estimated 99 charter flights between July 1 and October 7 and China Eastern increasing scheduled services to twice daily from July 1 to October 9.
He said flight frequencies will rise further to three daily services between July 16 and August 31, while the route was already served by 14 weekly scheduled flights as of June 15, comprising seven each by AirAsia and Shanghai Airlines.
Jafry said the additional capacity is expected to boost visitor arrivals from China during the peak holiday period while strengthening Sabah’s connectivity through Shanghai, which serves as a major international transit hub for the extensive global networks of China Eastern and Spring Airlines.
Between January and April this year, Sabah recorded 292,396 visitor arrivals from China compared with 195,147 in the corresponding period last year, and Jafry said the Sabah Tourism Board would continue working with airline partners to expand international connectivity and support long-term tourism growth ahead of Visit Sabah Year 2027.
