December 4, Kuala Lumpur—This month, nearly 3,100 weekly flights will be on 10 new international flight routes, including a rental flight route.
The announcement by Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, the new routes will link the nation’s five main destinations: Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi, and Penang. This will allow the participating states to benefit from tourism while providing a range of travel options.
“This initiative will undoubtedly increase Malaysia’s competitiveness in the global tourism market and establish Malaysia as the preferred destination for tourists from other countries.”
As of October, there were more than 20.5 million foreign visitors to Malaysia, surpassing the 20.14 million total for 2023. In a Facebook post yesterday, he expressed optimism that the year-end drive will help us return to pre-pandemic levels. He also stated that the 10 new routes would be introduced gradually, starting with the Vietjet direct daily flights between Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi, Vietnam.
Indigo Airlines’ first flight to the nation will come after this. The airline has added three new routes that connect Malaysia and India: daily flights from Bengaluru to Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, as well as daily flights from Chennai to Penang.
Additional routes include the three-weekly AirAsia flights from Saigon, Vietnam to Kota Kinabalu, the daily Batik Air flights between Bangkok, Thailand and Johor Bahru, the five-weekly Malaysia Airlines flights from Kolkata, India to Kuala Lumpur, and the three-weekly Shanghai Airlines flight from Yuncheng, China to Kuala Lumpur.
According to Tiong, a later date will be announced for the beginning of the twice-weekly Jiangxi flight from Nanchang, China, to Kuala Lumpur.
He also mentioned that on December 10, Jeju Air will launch a twice-weekly rental flight service between Kota Kinabalu and Muan, South Korea.
“We will add 50 foreign flights per week to Malaysia once all 10 routes are operational. The weekly passenger capacity will increase from 612,423 to over 620,000.
“I am certain that this news will enhance Malaysia’s standing as a major travel destination and will be a significant development for the country’s tourism industry,” he continued. — Bernama
