Flights to Sabah and Sarawak can cost surprisingly more than flights to nearby countries, especially around festive periods and school holidays. In an October 2024 parliament sitting, a Sabah MP pointed out that a one-way economy ticket to the state was going for RM1,700 that week, well above the fares to Singapore, the Philippines, or Indonesia.
The government has introduced fare caps and subsidies to help during the busiest periods, and the airlines put on extra flights and fixed fares of their own. These are announced festive season by festive season, and they apply only to the dates named in each announcement.
Outside those dates, the fare depends largely on how many people are trying to book the same seats and how many flights are available.
Why Are Flights To Sabah And Sarawak So Expensive
The biggest factor is simply demand. A large number of people who live, work or study in the peninsula have family or permanent homes in Sabah and Sarawak. Around Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Gawai, Kaamatan and school holidays, many of them want to fly home at roughly the same time.
Airlines use dynamic pricing, so fares change according to demand and how many seats are left. Once the cheaper seats on a flight sell out, the remaining seats are offered at higher fares. By the time you start looking a few weeks before a major holiday, the cheaper seats may already be gone, leaving you with fewer affordable flights to choose from.
Some routes have far more flights than others. KL to Kuching and KL to Kota Kinabalu have several airlines and more frequent services, while destinations such as Sibu, Bintulu, Sandakan, Tawau and Labuan have fewer flights. Fewer flights mean fewer seats to choose from, so a popular departure time can become expensive quickly.
There are also the costs of operating the flight. Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu takes considerably more fuel than a short domestic route such as KL to Penang, while airport and air navigation charges also form part of an airline’s operating costs.
When Are Flights To East Malaysia Most Expensive
The biggest fare increases tend to happen when lots of people need to travel on the same dates.
Gawai Dayak and Kaamatan are particularly busy periods for flights to Sarawak and Sabah, while Hari Raya and Chinese New Year create another major wave of demand. These periods also tend to overlap with school holidays, making it harder for families to simply travel on a quieter weekday.
Adding more seats eases some of that pressure, and the airlines do this every festive season. Malaysia Airlines and Firefly put on additional flights to East Malaysia around Gawai and Kaamatan each year, with base fares on those flights capped at RM499 in 2026. That cap applies to the base fare only, so taxes, surcharges and fuel costs are added on top. Sabah and Sarawak are given separate travel windows, so check which dates cover your destination.
Airlines also run their own fixed-fare promotions around major holidays, and AirAsia does this as an annual exercise covering both Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. In 2026, it priced one-way flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, Miri, Sibu and Bintulu at RM328 all-in, with Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Sandakan at RM398. These are fixed fares rather than caps, and they include all mandatory charges.
There is no standing rule that keeps fares on these routes low. The transport ministry announces the caps ahead of each festive season, and they apply only to the dates named in that announcement. The cap amount and the number of days covered have both changed between festive seasons. If you are booking for a festive period, check what has been announced for those specific dates.
If you need to fly home outside those dates, you’ll still need to shop around.
Students Can Get RM400 Off With FLYsiswa
If you’re an eligible student, FLYsiswa can make a much bigger difference to the cost of flying home. The Ministry of Transport’s programme provides a RM400 digital voucher for eligible students travelling between the peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. It is available to students at public universities, polytechnics, community colleges, matriculation colleges and teacher education institutes. For 2026, the programme was widened to four more categories: ASWARA, government-linked universities, Institut Latihan Jabatan Tenaga Malaysia, and state-owned higher education institutions.
The voucher is tied to the student’s home and study locations. For example, a student from Kota Kinabalu studying in Kuala Lumpur can use it for a flight between the two cities. You can check your eligibility through the FLYsiswa portal before registering with a participating airline. Registration closes on 30 November 2026, and bookings using the voucher must be made by 31 December 2026.
Malaysia Airlines says eligible students can redeem the RM400 voucher up to three times, or until the full amount is used. AirBorneo also joined the programme in August 2026, giving students another airline option.
If you’re eligible, use the voucher on a more expensive journey rather than burning it on a cheap promotional fare. That way, more of the RM400 goes towards reducing what you have to pay.
Book Early If You Know Your Travel Dates
For popular East Malaysia routes, booking early is still one of the simplest ways to keep the fare down, and even more so for festive travel. If you already know you’ll be flying home for Gawai, Kaamatan, Hari Raya or Chinese New Year, don’t wait until a few weeks before the holiday to start looking.
Three to six months ahead is a reasonable window to start watching fares for major festive periods. If a good promotional fare appears, you can then decide whether to book rather than waiting and hoping the price comes down later.
Fares climb sharply once the subsidised seats are taken. On 28 May 2026, four days before Gawai, a spot check by DayakDaily found that the subsidised seats under the RM499 cap had largely sold out. Most remaining one-way fares from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching were running between RM900 and RM3,000, while seats to Bintulu and Miri could still be found at around RM300 to RM500.
When you fly changes the price as well. A Tuesday or Wednesday flight is often cheaper than a Friday evening departure, and so are early morning and late-night flights. Compare several departure times rather than searching for one specific flight and assuming that is the price you have to pay.
If you’re paying by credit card, an air miles card lets you collect points on the fare, which you can put towards a future flight. Air miles cards generally have no earning cap, so they suit a large one-off purchase like festive tickets for the whole family. Air miles conversion rates and expiry dates differ between travel credit cards, so check both before you pay.
Consider A Flight Pass If You Fly Home Often
If you regularly fly between Kuala Lumpur and East Malaysia, consider a flypass instead of separate bookings.
Malaysia Airlines’ MHflypass Malaysia Zone 2 covers three return trips, or six one-way flights, between Kuala Lumpur and selected destinations in Sabah and Sarawak. The pass costs RM1,739 and includes 35kg of checked baggage, meals, date changes and 12 months of validity from purchase. Airport tax and fuel surcharge are charged separately when you redeem the pass, so it is not automatically cheaper than buying individual tickets.
Buying a flypass can make sense if you already know you will be making several trips during the year, particularly when those trips would otherwise fall during expensive travel periods. Just keep in mind that redemptions are subject to seat availability.
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