Sabah’s tourism sector is recovering, especially from China, since reopening borders this year.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew expressed delight in working with AirAsia to welcome more travellers to the state.
AirAsia’s high load factors strengthen international relations and help achieve the goal of 2.2 million tourist arrivals.
Liew praised AirAsia for launching new routes between Kota Kinabalu and Beijing, as well as Macao.
The inaugural flights had impressive load factors of over 90 percent.
AirAsia Malaysia’s CEO, Riad Asmat, emphasised the importance of Kota Kinabalu as a hub and the significant role of their Sabah network in the recovery strategy.
Currently, AirAsia operates 21 domestic and international routes with 300 weekly flights to and from Sabah.
The additional daily flights to Beijing and four weekly flights to Macao are expected to boost tourism and the state’s economy.
Asmat stated that strong demand from Kota Kinabalu will lead to increased frequency and more routes in the future.
AirAsia appreciates the support of industry partners, including the Sabah Tourism Board.
AirAsia operates 14 routes to and from China, with over 104 weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur.
Flights are available from Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru to various Chinese cities. AirAsia X operates four routes to China from Kuala Lumpur.
