COMMERCIAL airlines have been invited to make Sabah their operational hub when Malaysia’s international borders reopen soon.
State Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai (pic) said given Sabah’s strategic location and past successes, all stakeholders should collaborate to identify new possibilities to revitalise the international tourism industry.
Before Covid-19 struck, he said Sabah’s tourism sector was thriving and accessible via direct flights from 20 major international cities with over 220 flights weekly, especially from the North Asia region.
“On top of that, there were more than 400 domestic flights connecting 10 destinations in Malaysia. As many nations are opening their borders starting March, we believe Malaysia will soon follow suit.
Bangkuai, who chairs STB, expressed optimism that the international travel business would recover, albeit not in the same way as it had been previously.
Speaking before representatives from both local and international airline companies, he said their participation and support is essential to help promote the State and re-establish collaboration on new access into Sabah.
Meanwhile, Airline Operators Committee Chairman Mohamad Azri Mohammad Rashad stated the Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights for the Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu route recorded high loads. “For the past few weeks, most of the flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu have 70-80 per cent loads. It’s quite a high number.
“There are three to four flights for Sabah in a day as compared to Johor Baru, Alor Star, Kota Baru and Terengganu,” he said.
Mohamad said with the reopening of the nation’s borders, the committee team was involved in planning and implementing standard operating procedures (SOP) with the assistance of Malaysia Airports, the Health Ministry and Tourism Malaysia on Feb 26.
This was Airline Operators Committee’s second visit to Sabah, which was initially scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
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