PUTRAJAYA: New international and regional flights to Malaysia are expected to boost tourist arrivals despite ongoing challenges in the aviation sector.
“Our local carriers have cut some routes, especially domestic ones, but they have redeployed them to more profitable routes.
“So while some routes are reduced or suspended, the overall frequency for other destinations remains,” said Tourism Malaysia director-general Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim.
“It’s the same for international carriers. They reduce frequencies on less profitable routes and move capacity to routes that are performing better. They have to think about profitability because of rising fuel prices,” he said.
Mohd Amirul Rizal said despite these challenges, new links are coming on stream.
These include Air Algérie and Aero Dili flights into Malaysia, AirAsia’s Batam-Kuala Lumpur and Phuket-Penang routes, Batik Air Malaysia’s Banda Aceh-Kuala Lumpur and Colombo-Kuala Lumpur services.
More flights are also coming in, namely Juneyao Airlines, Chongqing Airlines and Qingdao Airlines, as well as Lufthansa’s Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur flight from October.
“We now have direct flights from Algeria, which gives us access to North Africa. We see good potential from countries like Algeria, Egypt and Morocco,” he said, adding that talks are ongoing with Thai carriers such as Nok Air and Thai Vietjet, while TransNusa is looking to increase flights to Malaysia.
Mohd Amirul Rizal said strong air connectivity remains “one of the most critical pillars” of tourism growth and international competitiveness.
“We work with Malaysia Aviation Group, Malaysia Airports Holdings and both full-service and low-cost carriers through joint marketing, route support and co-promotional campaigns.
“Our Charter Flight Matching Grant (GSPC) and other route development incentives are key tools to encourage airlines to maintain and expand their services, including in secondary destinations such as Penang, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching,” he said.
Last year, the GSPC supported 50 campaigns that helped spur 80 new international routes, five new charter routes, increased frequencies on 22 routes and the continuation of 853 active routes.
The scheme will be extended to the cruise sector this year with Penang as the primary hub and a target of more than one million cruise passengers.
“Initiatives such as Malaysia Airlines’ Bonus Side Trip programme are also being used to disperse visitors beyond Kuala Lumpur by encouraging transit passengers to add domestic stopovers,” Mohd Amirul Rizal said.
