Sabah exploring more direct flights from western countries

Liew handing ang pow packets to media representatives during the luncheon.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will increase efforts to get more airlines in western countries to offer direct flights into the state, says Datuk Christina Liew.

The state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister said plans have been made to visit related authorities in these countries, although she did not specify which ones.

“This is an ongoing process. Our team, under the new Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer (Julinus Jeffery Jimit), is working on the new direct flights,” she said after hosting her ministry’s Chinese New Year luncheon with the Sabah media at a hotel here on Wednesday (Jan 31).

“My assistant minister (Datuk Joniston Bangkuai) and I will visit some western countries to explore the possibility of getting more flights to Sabah.

“But before the end of March, we expect a big group from China in conjunction with the Lunar New Year. Many from the country will travel because of the holidays,” Liew added.

The Minister said she was confident Sabah would be able to achieve its three million tourist arrival target this year.

She said the state surpassed its target of 2.2mil arrivals after 2.6mil guests visited Sabah.

“So, I believe that with hard work and cooperation from ministry staff, STB, and Sri Pelancongan Sabah Sdn bhd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of STB), we will be able to hit the mark,” she said.

Liew added that launching the revised Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home programme and the Sabah Convention Bureau would contribute to the effort.

Sabah collected over RM4.6bil in revenue from the total tourist arrivals last year.