Sabah looking at suggestions to tackle KKIA overcrowding

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is scrutinising recommendations to improve the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) capacity in an effort to address increased flights and tourist arrival into the state.

Among the suggestions made were to expand the existing KKIA facilities into the sea via reclamation as well as build a new runway and construct a new airport.

The KKIA Terminal 1 had emerged the second busiest airport in the country after Kuala Lumpur International Airport, with an annual capacity of nine million passengers.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said 7.9 million passengers had used the airport throughout 2017, with 3.68 million tourists arrival.

"If we look at the increasing number of tourists, especially from China and South Korea, to Sabah and particularly Kota Kinabalu, we will face a possibility of reaching the maximum capacity in the near future," he told reporters after attention the Ministry's inaugural assembly here, today.

"This is something which will eventually become a challenge for KKIA to allow more aircrafts to park.

“Therefore we had taken into considerations the proposals by various quarters. All options are being fined tuned and when the time comes, the government will choose the most practical and viable option," he stressed.

On airport expansion and additional runway construction, Masidi said the state government would conduct thorough study to determine whether the recommendations are viable as it affect the environment.

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Sabah to speed up hotels construction to accommodate foreign tourists

KOTA KINABALU: The state cabinet will expedite the construction of hotels to accommodate the increasing number of foreign tourists to Sabah, Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said.

Although the state is in dire need of hotels, it must still ensure that the hotels that will be built in Sabah are reputable and of the highest quality.

“The state cabinet had recently decided to speed up the construction of more hotels in the state and a few companies had already been tasked to do so. We are fully aware of the state’s need,” Masidi said at a press conference during the launching ceremony of Xiamen Airlines’ inaugural flight from Beijing to Kota Kinabalu at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on Tuesday.

“We must be proactive. We must leverage on Sabah’s beauty, not only in terms of its nature but in terms of its services and facilities as well,” he added.

Earlier in his speech, Masidi disclosed that there were over 430,000 tourists from China who came to Sabah, adding that most of them were from the southern or central China.

Last year’s figure had indicated an increase of 15.7 per cent in tourist arrivals compared to those of 2016.

Furthermore, with the commencement of the Xiamen Airlines’ direct flight, the state, Masidi asserted, would be expecting more Chinese tourists for this year and thus hotels would be needed more than ever.

Masidi also said the launching of Xiamen Airlines’ direct non-stop flight from Beijing to Kota Kinabalu will open more doors for Chinese tourists to come to Sabah.

“This is a huge opportunity for Sabah and Malaysia. We can expect more Chinese tourists to visit Sabah because of the availability of this direct flight,” he said.

“There will be a strong exchange of visitors to foster good relationship between China and Sabah. China has been the main international market source for Sabah.

“For the last ten years, we have penetrated into the main as well as the second tier cities with a population that craves for trips to the beaches and islands, which we are known for,”  Masidi said.

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Sabah's 2017 tourist arrivals likely hit 3.7m

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah had achieved its best performance last year in terms of arrivals and tourism receipts, said Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.

“The number of tourist arrivals in the state last year was expected to hit 3.7 million, which would contribute to tourism receipts amounting to RM7.76 billion.

“About 35 per cent of international arrivals were from China, owing to improved air travel between the country and Sabah.

“I would like to attribute the good results to the close collaboration between airline companies and Malaysia’s leading airport operator Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd, ” he said at a welcome dinner for passengers flying to Sabah on Malaysia Airlines Bhd’s new Airbus A350 from Kuala Lumpur recently.

Masidi said there were 14 airlines which offered services, including 176 international and 418 domestic flights at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA).

He said with the high number of flights, KKIA had become the second-busiest airport in the country after Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

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MAS Airbus A350 conducts test flight to KKIA

KOTA KINABALU: A Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) Airbus A350 plane conducted its test flight from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) yesterday.

Aimed at providing the pilots and cabin crew the experience of handling the new aircraft before it started its Kuala Lumpur to London service on Jan 15, the plane arrived at KKIA at 3.50 pm after departing from KLIA at 1.05 pm.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, MAB’s Chief Commercial Officer Arved von zur Muehlen and more than 100 other passengers were on the flight.

Speaking to reporters after arriving at the KKIA, von zur Muehlen said the new aircraft, which has 286 seats including four seats in the First Class, 35 in Business Class and 247 in Economy Class, is believed to be able to provide excellent experience and comfort to customers.

He expressed gratitude for being able to fly the KUL-BKI route prior to commencing the KUL-LDN route.

“We’re happy we can fly here and are very grateful for the support from Sabah Tourism Board to show our latest product.

“The A350 is our latest flight as we are redoing our fleet, which is one of the youngest in Asia with only four years,” he said.

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Batik Air to fly direct from Jakarta to Kota Kinabalu

KOTA KINABALU: Batik Air will start flying direct from Jakarta Soekarno – Hatta International Airport (CGK) to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI) twice a week following its successful inaugural flight yestrday.

Kota Kinabalu was chosen as its new destination as part of the plan to expand its international network.

Early this month, Batik Air flew to two new Indonesian destinations, Silangit in North Sumatra and Labuan Bajo on the Island of Flores in East Tenggara.

Managing director of Malaysia Airports, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, said the new flight route would benefit both countries well.

“We are happy to see yet another airline adding Kota Kinabalu as their destination after the consolidation of operations under one terminal back in 2015.

“Based on our records, total passenger traffic movements in BKI have experienced good growth registering 7.3 million from January to November 2017, increasing by 11.2% over the same period last year.

“In fact, international passenger traffic movements have seen even more robust growth. During the same period, BKI registered 2.3 million international passenger traffic movements, an increase of 22.1% from last year.

“We are glad to see this increase, especially after our pledge in the last two years to further support the development of tourism in Sabah by intensifying efforts to promote Sabah as a destination,” said Badlisham.

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Kota Kinabalu International Airport registers 11.2 pct growth in passenger movement this year

KOTA KINABALU: Passenger traffic movement at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) stood at 7.3 million people in November, an 11.2 per cent growth compared to the same period last year.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said the international segment received an even bigger growth, registering 2.3 million people or a 22.1 percent hike compared to the previous year.

“We are glad to see this increase especially after our pledge in the last two years to further support the development of tourism in Sabah by intensifying efforts to promote the state as a destination.

“Tourism in Sabah is at its peak right now, with each town offering fabulous local activities combining nature and culture,” he said.

In a statement announcing the new route by Indonesia’s Batik Air, connecting Kota Kinabalu with Jakarta, starting today, Badlisham said the new route is timely as Indonesians can now enjoy Sabah at its best.

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Sabah set for new tourist influx record

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah tourism sector is set to create a new record this year as the influx of tourists continue to soar, probably hitting the 3.7 million mark surpassing the targeted 3.55 million.

“In a few weeks (Dec 20), Batik Air (Indonesia) will commence Jakarta-Kota Kinabalu sector, making it the 14th international airline to be served by Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA),” said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.

“In the first quarter next year, Kota Kinabalu will be connected to Chengdu, Changsha and Tianjin that used to be charter flights now coming in as scheduled flights,” Masidi disclosed during the bi-annual 11th Sabah Tourism Awards 2017 at a resort here on Saturday.

He also shared that Consul-General of China in Kota Kinabalu Liang Caide is working to mount a scheduled flight from Beijing to Kota Kinabalu either by this month or early next year.

“This is good news for us because the Chinese government is making the arrangement for us and it will be operated by Xiamen Airlines.

“I take this opportunity to thank the Consul-General of China in Kota Kinabalu for giving us the cooperation to bring in more Chinese tourists to Sabah.

“This is another challenge as we are fast running out of hotel rooms; so my message to investors is please facilitate in building 4-5 star hotels because there is a real need for it,” said Masidi.

Up to Oct this year, he said KKIA has welcomed 190 chartered flights from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan making it the second busiest after Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

KKIA is serving 171 international and 410 domestic flights weekly, connected to 16 international destinations via 13 foreign airlines. China and South Korea are the busiest routes with 84 and 35 flights respective per week, he said.

“Cruise season have started. Last week over 3,000 passengers from the European cruise arrived at our port in Kota Kinabalu.

“We are expecting three more cruises by year-end or at least l0,000 more arrivals from all over the world,” said Masidi.

“We will not stop there. When the Sabah International Convention Centre is completed in 2018, the business events industry in Sabah will progress dramatically as the centre had 5,000 seating capacity,” said Masidi.

As of Sept this year, he said Sabah had received closed to 30,000 MICE arrivals generating a revenue of some RM78 million, reflected the readiness of Sabah to stage large scale events and for this, the Sabah Tourism Board will set up MICE section next year.

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Sabah Govt committed to develop tourism sector

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism will continue to feature as part of Sabah’s economic development, said  Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman.

Speaking  at the launch of the opening of Mercure Hotel yesterday, Musa said with Sabah’s strong presence in the global tourism market, the government remained committed in further developing the sector along with private entities.

The Chief Minister also said Sabah had a variety of tourism products that could cater to the needs of tourists, from nature destinations to rich cultural heritage, a diversity of food and shopping options.

He added that the state government was also taking steps to ensure that the state’s eco-tourism products remained sustainable and would continue to attract travellers.

“We do this by focusing on sustainable and targeted development and with this, areas of natural heritage are continuously protected,” he said.

Musa also said Sabah was seeing a rise in interest among airlines to offer direct flights from regional destinations into the Kota Kinabalu International Airport, due to strong market support and the availability of both hotels and quality services.

“Just recently, Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai was quoted as saying that there had been an increase in the number of tourist arrivals at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA). Visitor arrivals at KKIA between January and August stood at 5.3 million compared to 4.7 million in the same period last year, and this is an impressive growth,” he said.

He added that the state government welcomed the minister’s statement that the Transport Ministry was prepared to engage more airlines to use KKIA to fly in more tourists to Sabah.

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KKIA can handle 12 million passengers after renovation

KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here has the capacity to handle a maximum of 12 million passengers per annum after the renovation works.

Generally, the forecast has suggested that the present airport will last out within this five years, said Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) chief operating officer Azmir Zain.

“KKIA has handled 7.2 million passengers in 2016, today it has the capacity to handle nine million passengers per annum,” said Azmir during a media briefing on ‘MAVCOM Consumer Report and Industry Report-Waypoint’ at a hotel here yesterday.

“MAHB (Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad) explained to us with some adjustment and renovation done to the airport (KKIA), it can increase that capacity to 12 million passengers per year,” he disclosed.

“Beyond that, we understand that there are discussions between the federal and state governments. We leave it to them to make the announcement in due course,” said Azmir.

On other issue, he said the rural air services (RAS) in Sabah and Sarawak are under the purview of the Ministry of Transport.

“Air connectivity is a critical mode of transportation for Sabah and Sarawak. The federal government already had the RAS programme since independence.

“The federal government also developed the Pan Borneo Highway project connecting all the coastal cities in Sabah and Sarawak.

“But, the rural areas still depends on air connectivity, hence the RAS is emphasized,” he said. He said MAVCOM also introduced a valuation process for commercial licences for both schedule and non-schedule carriers and also for ground handlers.

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Sabah tourism raked in RM7.2 bln last year

KOTA KINABALU: The rate of tourist arrivals in Sabah has increased by a whopping 10.8 per cent, and this indicates the tourism industry has been performing well, said Tourism, Environment and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.

“As of June this year, the total number of tourists in Sabah was 1,791,493, which indicated an increase of 10.8 per cent compared to the same period of last year,” Masidi said at the opening ceremony of the 27th anniversary of Centre Point Sabah yesterday.

Masidi stressed that this was a brilliant achievement, as the state was on track to beat last year’s tourism record, which was regarded as ‘the best year for Sabah tourism’.

“A total of 3.43 million tourist arrivals was achieved last year, the highest number ever in Sabah’s history. This brought an estimated revenue of RM7.249 billion.

“We are very positive to achieve our target this year,” Masidi said.

However, he said the lack of hotels in Sabah could potentially halt the tourist arrivals to Sabah.

Thus, Masidi urged the investors and the hotel operators of the state to build more hotels to accommodate the increasing number of tourists.

He disclosed that there were over 175 international flights arriving at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) every week, and 79 of those flights were from China.

During summer (July to August), China will have an extra 28 direct flights to Sabah.

As for domestic flights, there were over 405 flights arriving at KKIA on a weekly basis, Masidi added.

Masidi asserted that Sabah’s tourism industry was the only industry in the state that is fully controlled by locals.

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MASwings brings Kaamatan, Gawai cheer to KIA, KKIA

KUCHING: Cabin crew members of MASwings spread the festive spirit of Kaamatan and Gawai Dayak by holding festive send-off and welcome ceremonies at both Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) and Kuching International Airport (KIA) on the eve of the two occasions.

At KKIA, eight cabin crew members distributed complimentary ‘kurma’ (dates) to MASwings and Malaysia Airlines passengers, in conjunction with the month of Ramadan, as they sent off departing passengers and greeted those arriving at the airport.

Four MASwings flight hostesses who took part in the event at KKIA, are actually former ‘Unduk Ngadau’ (Kaamatan pageant queens) of their respective districts – an attribute that they showcased proudly by wearing their winning crowns and sashes.

The colourful ceremony was accompanied by the playing of a traditional musical instrument called the ‘kulintangan’, performed continuously by MASwings’ in-house talent Mohd Mazrull Mazwandy Mazlan.

Mohd Mazrull also encouraged his fellow cabin crew members to perform the ‘Sumazau’ – the well-known traditional dance of the Kadazans in Sabah.

At the KIA, MASwings’ Kuching cabin crew wore the traditional costumes of major ethnic groups in Sarawak, in celebration of Gawai Dayak, as they said farewell to outgoing passengers and warmly welcomed those arriving ones.

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SilkAir keen to bring in arrivals from China and India to Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism in Sabah is likely to thrive this year with a possibility of SilkAir supplementing Chinese and Indian arrivals using its wide network from major cities in China and India.

During a meeting with Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun recently, SilkAir had expressed keen interest to work with Sabah Tourism on contributing arrivals from China and developing the Indian market via Singapore.

Close to 2.7 million visitors from China and India visited Singapore up to November 2016.

Currently, seven airlines fly direct from Chinese cities into Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA). SilkAir operates daily schedule from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu.

“We see this as a huge opportunity to increase our yearly visitor arrivals. We would like to thank SilkAir, which is one of our long-term partners. They have been supporting our destination for more than a decade.

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Kota Kinabalu needs bigger airport

KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu needs a new, bigger airport as the influx of tourists will push the existing Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) to its full runway capacity of 13 million passengers annually in the next five years, says Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) executive chairman General Tan Sri Abdullah bin Ahmad.

Abdullah said a study was currently being conducted by the State Government and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), which was expected to be completed in less than a year, while a separate study carried out by Mavcom was almost completed.

“A study is in process now to look into a new site for a bigger airport and it will have more than two runways to cater for the big influx of foreign tourists into Sabah.”

Although Abdullah declined to disclose the exact site for the new airport, he said the location would not be far from Kota Kinabalu.

Abdullah said although the study was still in preliminary stage, the new airport could be completed in four years, or five years maximum once the State Government had decided on the project and obtained endorsement by the Federal Government.

“It will be a loss to the State if the project cannot be completed in time before the existing airport reaches its full (runway) capacity because it is unable to accommodate the influx of tourists,” he said in an interview yesterday.

He said the current capacity of KKIA could be increased from the present 9 million passengers to 12 million passengers per year without major construction.

By constructing an additional building on the available land at the current terminal can further boost KKIA’s capacity to 21 million passengers a year.

However, Abdullah explained that KKIA only has a single runway which could only accommodate up to 13 million passengers a year.

“Although the terminal can accommodate up to 21 million passengers per year if expanded, a single runway cannot take the number of flights of that figure,” Abdullah said, adding that the increase in foreign tourists to Sabah would mainly come from China, as well as from Taiwan and Thailand.

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Things looking up for Sabah tourism

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Tourism Board (STB) General Manager Gordon Yapp said Xiamen Airlines' inaugural direct flight from Fuzhou to Kota Kinabalu last Monday which marked this city as its official gateway city to East Malaysia and the scheduled commencement of Malindo Air's four weekly direct flights to Taipei shows Sabah is capable of luring more foreign tourists because of our many internationally tourist attractions.

The number of Taiwanese tourist arrivals recorded double digit growth last year and the trend is expected to continue this year with the commencement of Malindo Air's four weekly direct flights," he said.

He added that the China flights would be coming in between Jan 14 and Feb 11.

"They chartered the flights from Malindo Air and the tourists will come from six cities in the southern part of China, including Chengdu and Zhenzhou," he added.

Qouting general manager of Xiamen Airlines Guo Yuan, Gordon said the three times weekly non-stop three-and-a-half-hour flight between the cities will not only create a convenient channel for Chinese nationals to enjoy a short holiday escape in a popular tourist destination, but also connect East Malaysia to its newest Amsterdam and New York airline destinations.

"So far, most of the booking is 80pc from Fuzhou on this route. More and more Chinese nationals are interested to visit Sabah," the STB general manager stressed.

Last Monday, Xiamen Airlines' Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed at KKIA around 5.45pm with an almost full load of 155 passengers, whilst the returning flight, scheduled to depart to Fuzhou at 6.35pm had a 60pc load factor.

"Southeast Asia is Xiamen Airlines' all time strategic market. It is our great honour to have this opportunity to contribute to the economic development, cultural exchange as well as the mutual cooperation as an airline company. The new route is expected to continue the growing passenger visits from China to Malaysia," Guo said during the ceremony.

The airline, based in the city of Xiamen of Fujian Province, China, operates other non-stop flights between Fujian and Kuala Lumpur.

Gordon said he was informed that Malindo Airline has a few chartered flights between Kota Kinabalu and Narita in Japan and is now seriously thinking of opening the route in the future.

He also said Malindo Airline is looking into making Kota Kinabalu as its secondary hub after Kuala Lumpur.

The premium airline which started operation about four years ago currently has 42 airplanes in its fleet and will be adding 10 more before the year is out for a grand total of 52 planes.

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Half million China, Taiwan tourists expected into Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Arrivals from China and Taiwan into Sabah are expected to break the half million mark this year.

Assistant Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming expects a growth of 15% to 20% in China and Taiwan arrivals for 2017.

This is based on the overall arrivals from top market China of roughly around 370,000 to 380,000 in 2016 and the increasing number of airlines expressing their interest to open direct international routes into Sabah this year, he added.

“We expect this year the figure will increase, and including Taiwan (arrivals), will reach more than half a million. Last year, for Taiwan and China, (the) figure was more than 430,000,” said Pang.

“We have been approached by a lot of airlines to open routes into new areas, particularly from Chengdu, Xiamen or even the northern part of China. We are certainly going to receive more tourists from China,” he assured.

The assistant minister said this during the Xiamen Airlines’ Fuzhou to Kota Kinabalu inaugural flight ceremony at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here yesterday.

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Xiamen Airlines makes inaugural flight to Kota Kinabalu

KOTA KINABALU: Xiamen Airlines’ inaugural direct flight from Fuzhou to Kota Kinabalu yesterday marked this city as its official gateway city into East Malaysia.

Xiamen Airlines Kuala Lumpur Office general manager Guo Yuan said the three times weekly non-stop three-and-a-half-hour flight between the cities will not only create a convenient channel for Chinese nationals to enjoy a short holiday escape in a popular tourist destination, but also connect East Malaysia to its newest Amsterdam and New York airline destinations.

“So far, most of the booking is 80% from Fuzhou on this route. More and more Chinese nationals are interested to visit Sabah,” said Guo at the inaugural flight ceremony at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here yesterday.

“Through this route, they can transit at Fuzhou on their way to our new destinations New York in America and Amsterdam in Europe as well as other international places,” he added.

The Xiamen Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft landed at KKIA around 5.45pm with an almost full load of 155 passengers, whilst the returning flight, scheduled to depart to Fuzhou at 6.35pm had a 60% load factor.

“Southeast Asia is Xiamen Airlines’ all time strategic market. It is our great honor to have this opportunity to contribute to the economic development, cultural exchange as well as the mutual cooperation as an airline company. The new route is expected to continue the growing passenger visits from China to Malaysia,” said Guo.

Continue reading at: Xiamen Airlines makes inaugural flight to Kota Kinabalu

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More China, Taiwan tourists due in Sabah

Kota Kinabalu: Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is usually busier as the festive season approaches but it will get a lot more crowded this year – thanks to some 38 chartered flights bringing in thousands of holidaymakers from China.

The number of Taiwanese tourist arrivals also recorded double digit growth last year and the trend is expected to continue this year with the commencement of Malindo Air's four weekly direct flights from Kota Kinabalu to Taipei.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Pang Nyuk Ming said the China flights would be coming in between Jan. 14 and Feb. 11. "They chartered the flights from Malindo Air and the tourists will come from six cities in the southern part of China, including Chengdu and Zhenzhou.

"The Government thank Malindo Air. This also showed that Sabah is capable of attracting foreign tourists because of our many internationally renowned tourist attractions," he said.

Malindo Air Chief Executive Officer Chandran Rama Muthy said the airline also has a few chartered flights between KK and Narita in Japan and they are seriously thinking of opening the route in the future.

The premium airline which started operation about four years ago currently has 42 airplanes in its fleet and will be adding 10 more before the year is out for a grand total of 52 planes.

"We have 800 flights travelling weekly to over 40 destinations in 13 countries and this year, we are now offering a 20 per cent discount on all destinations to passengers aged 60 and above.

So I urge senior citizens to take up this opportunity and travel," he said. Commenting on the KL-KK route, Chandran said he was impressed by the people's support of the airline and announced it would be increasing frequency from three to six weekly flights.

The route is consistently registering between 70 and 75 per cent load factor.

"We always wanted to make Kota Kinabalu as our secondary hub after Kuala Lumpur.

Thus, by the first quarter of this year, we are also going to open two routes between Kota Kinabalu and Kuching and add two more between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu," he said.

He added that Kota Kinabalu is ideal as the main hub for Borneo because of its geographical location and ready facilities.

Continue reading at: More China, Taiwan tourists due in Sabah

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Direct Busan-KK flights bring Sabah Tourism Board closer to MICE mission

KOTA KINABALU: Eastar Jet’s new non-stop flights from Busan to Kota Kinabalu brings Sabah Tourism Board (STB) closer to its Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) mission for Sabah in 2017.

Its general manager, Gordon Yapp, said STB has plans to go beyond its maintained target tourists such as Free Independent Travelers (FITs), couples as well as families, and expand to catering for a specialized niche of group tourism dedicated to conferences, seminars, or company incentive trips, among others.

Therefore, Eastar’s decision to be the first South Korean carrier to open Busan directly to its sole Malaysian destination is apt as the latter city is part of South Korea’s largest industrial area with the likes of globally renowned Hyundai and Samsung and a 10 million population count, he added.

According to the general manager, the low cost carrier’s first direct flight from Seoul to Kota Kinabalu had already contributed to the 144,596 Kota Kinabalu arrivals between January and September 2016.

“The arrivals from Seoul as of January to September had actually increased by 45.2% compared with last year,” said Yapp at the press conference for the Eastar Jet’s December 15 Busan-Kota Kinabalu inaugural flight here yesterday.

“With the new flights, we can expect to add another 3% to 4% arrivals increase from Seoul and Busan,” he revealed, adding that STB is also on its path of increasing flight accessibility.

The general manager also said with the Malaysia Airports Berhad statistics of 30% increase of international arrivals into Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), STB is confident in achieving the aim of 240,000 to 260,000 Kota Kinabalu arrivals from South Korea in 2017.

Continue reading at: Direct Busan-KK flights bring Sabah Tourism Board closer to MICE mission

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Kota Kinabalu International Airport continues to register double digit growth in international passenger movement

The Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) continues to register double digit growth in international passenger traffic movements for the past 10 months of this year as a result of consolidated operations under one roof.

From Jan to Oct, month-on-month growth compared against last year for international passenger traffic movements ranged from 20 percent to 37 percent, with year-to-date (YTD) growth at 28 percent.

Statistics also showed that the airport had registered YTD total domestic and international passenger growth of 10 percent.

This strong growth was contributed by strong performance from a wide range of airlines primarily the AirAsia Group, Jin Air from South Korea, and 16 other airlines operating at KKIA.

The Sabah Tourism Board had also reported an increase in total number of international and domestic visitors to Sabah for the period of Jan to Sep totaling 2.5 million which is a 5.2 percent increase when compared to the same period last year.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) general manager Mohd Suhaimi Abdul Mubin said the number of passengers is expected to increase this Christmas and New Year celebration period, starting from the third week of Dec up till the first week of Jan 2017.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Kota Kinabalu International Airport continues to register double digit growth in international passenger movement

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Malaysia Airlines maiden Kota Kinabalu-Penang flight

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) celebrated its inaugural Kota Kinabalu-Penang and Penang-Kuching flights with a welcome and send-off event at both Kota Kinabalu and Kuching airport yesterday.

Sabah Tourism Board together with Malaysia Airlines’ and MASwings representatives led by Malaysia Airlines Chief Operating Officer, Capt Izham Ismail welcomed MH2732 from Penang by handing out goodies to passengers at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA). The return flight, MH2733, was also given a special send-off token.

“We have received tremendous support from passengers flying on our Penang-Kuching and Penang–Kota Kinabalu routes. We are looking at very encouraging advanced book loads of 70-80%, with our passengers mostly traveling over the holidays and upcoming festive seasons,” said Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer, Arved von Zur Muehlen.

“We are confident that this connectivity will lead to greater domestic tourism for Malaysia’s largest secondary cities,” he added.

“Domestic arrivals is our main market source. We see continued growth of +3.6% on single-month comparison between the month of August this year and last year. In total, domestic arrivals registered +0.3% growth or 1.440 million up to the first eight months of this year. This brings a total nett of 2.089 million or +5.7% (2015: 1.976 million) arrivals into Sabah,” Sabah Tourism Chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai reported.

“We are expecting higher growth in the coming months especially after a successful partnership with Malaysia Airlines during a familiarization trip by Malaysia’s top social media influencers and bloggers to Sandakan recently,” Joniston added.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Malaysia Airlines maiden Kota Kinabalu-Penang flight

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