Sabah Tourism Board Signs 5-Year Agreement with AirAsia

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(05/07/24)
 The Sabah Tourism Board (STB) has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with AirAsia designed not only to
boost air connectivity, but also
promote trade and tourism to the state in northern Borneo, East
Malaysia.

AirAsia has indicated that as a group it is
looking at launching 14 domestic and
international routes including Kota Kinabalu-Bandar Sri Begawan,
Kota Kinabalu-Perth, Tawau-Guangzhou, Sandakan-Hong Kong, and
more.

The new routes are subject to market review and
evaluation which is expected to take place over the coming months.

The MOU also includes greater
collaboration between the airline and tourism body to
potentially develop the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI) as a
more important
regional aviation hub in the future.

Sabah Tourism Board signs MOU with AirAsia

90% of arrivals into Sabah are currently by air,
and as of 2022, tourism
contributed 22.8% of employment in the state, including in hotels, restaurants, travel agencies
and local attractions.

“We are pleased to establish this
five-year strategic partnership with AirAsia where we will support
in bridging the conversation between the airline and relevant
stakeholders,” said Minister of Tourism Culture and Environment Sabah,
Datuk Christina Liew. “Over the past few months, Sabah has become one of
the top affordable travel destinations and AirAsia played a
crucial role in facilitating this milestone. In the first half of
the year, we successfully welcomed 1.24 million tourists to Sabah
to date, and with AirAsia’s vast reach, we are confident that we
can attract more visitors and showcase the unique experiences
Sabah has to offer to travellers beyond this region.”

AirAsia Group flies to 23 destinations to/from
Sabah with a total of 294 flights weekly. Destinations
include: Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Hong Kong,
Seoul and more; from Tawau to Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru and
from Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur, excluding the destinations within
the Sabah state.

“This partnership
marks a significant step for us to expand our connectivity from
our second biggest hub in Malaysia, providing more opportunities
for our guests in the state to explore the world and for the world
to get to know and fall in love with Sabah,” said Deputy Group CEO (Airline Operations), AirAsia
Aviation Group, Datuk Captain Chester Voo. “Since 2002, we have
flown close to almost 80 million guests to and from Sabah, both
domestically and internationally. We look forward to seeing these
numbers grow exponentially in the next five years with this
partnership.”

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