A CHINA tourism charter service offering direct flights from Johor Baru to Haikou in Hainan is set to start on April 24.
It marks a new chapter for the local tourism industry that will contribute to the development of the economy.
The “Dragon Soars Across the Seas, Exploring China” airline tourism launch was held in Johor Baru with the participation of local and China tourism and airline industry representatives.
The event was organised by Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA), Guangzhou Weizan Airlines Service Co. Ltd and Hainan Yang Travel Air Group Co. Ltd, with China Sichuan Airlines Co. Ltd and Batik Air Malaysia as co-organisers.
In addition to announcing the new JB-Haikou direct flights, the event also unveiled and launched three other new services – Kuala Lumpur-Nanchang charter flight, Kuala Lumpur-Taiyuan tourism charter flight and the Kuala Lumpur-Chengdu charter flight.
The JB-Haikou tourism charter service will have flights scheduled every Wednesday and Saturday.
The first flights of the KL-Nanchang and KL-Taiyuan charter flights will also be launched on April 24.
The three above-mentioned charter services are a collaboration between Guangzhou Weizan Airlines Service Co. Ltd and Batik Air Malaysia.
As for the KL-Chengdu charter flight, it will be launched by Sichuan Airlines on March 31.
At a press conference, MCTA president Paul Paw said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing had asked the association to assist in increasing the number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia, to seven million this year.
Paw believed that the new flights would help boost the tourism industry in Johor and Malaysia as a whole, estimating that it would bring nearly 20,000 Chinese tourists to the state annually.
He also said the association would urge the government to make the visa-free measures for Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia permanent, rather than just for one year.
MCTA Johor Chapter chairman Edwin Tay urged the state government to provide additional subsidies to the local tourism industry to develop and facilitate more direct charter flights between China and Johor.
Also present were Sichuan Airlines Co. Ltd commercial committee general manager Wu Deyun, Guangzhou Weizan Airlines Service Co. Ltd executive director Liang Li Jian and Hainan Yang Travel Air Group Co Ltd executive director Li Qiang.
