KOTA KINABALU: The resumption of a direct AirAsia flight from Kunming to Sabah has seen the state being connected to 10 major Chinese cities, says Datuk Joniston Bangkuai.
The State Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister welcomed the Kunming flight operated by the low-cost carrier at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport yesterday.
The Kunming-Kota Kinabalu route will operate three times weekly, complementing other AirAsia direct routes to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Shanghai, Beijing and Ningbo.
Additionally, Xiamen Air operates the Fuzhou-Kota Kinabalu route.
While China remains a significant market for Sabah, Bangkuai – who is also Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman – said STB is determined to pursue new market opportunities.
“We are in constant discussions with our airline partners, particularly AirAsia, to establish Sabah as a key travel hub in Borneo.
“We want to explore new markets such as Vietnam, India and Central Asia, and are planning to resume direct flights from Australia, among others.
“With the Nusantara development underway, we need to build a strong hub portfolio and capture every market that will lead to more exciting international routes,” he said, referring to the new Indonesian capital in Kalimantan.
AirAsia is actively working to connect Sabah with more cities, including Shantou (China) and Kaohsiung (Taiwan), expected to launch in November.
AirAsia has also begun promoting a new route from Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) to Kota Kinabalu, set to commence in December.
Other international routes operated by AirAsia include key South-East Asian destinations such as Singapore, Manila, Jakarta, Bali and Manado, as well as Taipei and Seoul.
Other airlines serving international direct flights to Sabah are Air Busan (Busan-Kota Kinabalu), Scoot (Singapore-Kota Kinabalu), Shanghai Airlines (Shanghai-Kota Kinabalu), China Southern (Guangzhou-Kota Kinabalu), and Royal Brunei (Bandar Seri Begawan-Kota Kinabalu).
Sabah has achieved 70% of the pre-Covid-19 pandemic Chinese guest arrival levels so far this year, registering 262,070 visitors between January and July.
Bruneians and South Koreans were the next two significant visitors, with 124,521 and 106,573 arrivals respectively, making them Sabah’s top three international tourist markets.
