SEPANG, 10 January 2025 – Tourism Malaysia is proud to welcome Lucky Air’s inaugural flight connecting Dali, a historic city in China's Yunnan Province, to Kuala Lumpur, a vibrant gateway to Malaysia.

The inaugural flight was warmly received by Ms. Nuwal Fadhilah Ku Azmi, Director of International Promotion Division (Asia/Africa) representing Datuk Manoharan Periasamy, Director General of Tourism Malaysia, and representatives from Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad and Post Aviation, the ground handling partner for Lucky Air.

The bi-weekly service, operating on Mondays and Fridays, will use a Boeing 737 with 189 seats. This is the second route offered by Lucky Air. In September 2024, the airline operated a charter flight from Lijiang, Yunnan Province to Kuala Lumpur for a period of 2 months.

The official visit of Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, to the Lucky Air Headquarters during the Sales Mission to China in December 2024, highlighted the strong support for Lucky Air’s efforts to expand its route network to Malaysia.

This initiative aims to increase flight frequencies from various cities in Yunnan Province, beside Kunming, to Malaysia. The new route strengthens Malaysia to be a popular destination for Chinese tourists, particularly those from Southern China, and demonstrates the country's rising worldwide tourism presence.

From January to November 2024, Malaysia received a total of 3,038,314 tourists from China, reflecting an impressive year-on-year growth of 132.7%. The extension of the visa-free policy for Chinese nationals until December 2026, alongside the expanding connectivity between Malaysia and China, is expected to further elevate these numbers and foster enhanced cultural exchanges between the two nations.

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About Tourism Malaysia

Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia, is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia. It focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia as a preferred tourism destination. Since its inception, it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene.

The next Visit Malaysia Year, set to take place in 2026, will commemorate the sustainability of the nation's tourism industry, which is also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).

Furthermore, Tourism Malaysia actively endorses the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), working towards the realisation of the IMT-GT Visiting Year 2023-2025, with the shared aim of promoting the region as a unified tourism destination. For more information, visit Tourism Malaysia’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.

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