AIR BUSAN MAKES THE FIRST EVER TOUCH DOWN IN MALAYSIA
KOTA KINABALU, 9 May 2019: Sabah will be welcoming two inaugural flights from South Korea in two weeks times making Sabah more accessible to South Koreans.
Flying from the city of Daegu, Air Busan will make it’s first-ever touch down in Malaysia, at Kota Kinabalu International Airport on 15th May 2019. The new Daegu flight will be flying four times weekly, every Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
The carrier will also commence its second connection from Busan to Kota Kinabalu starting 22nd May 2019 on a daily basis.
“Thank you to Air Busan for this good news. New airlines flying from a new destination is part of our on-going efforts to make Sabah easily accessible from international destinations,” said YB Datuk Christina Liew, Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Environment.
“I would like to congratulate Air Busan for commencing two routes from South Korea in just less than 2 weeks. It shows that they have strong confidence in our destination and tourism products,” said Liew.
With the additional connectivity, Sabah will be receiving a total of 48 weekly direct flights from South Korea.
Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, Malaysia Airports’ Group Chief Executive Officer said, “Malaysia Airports is delighted to welcome Air Busan to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI). Currently, four airlines from South Korea are operating at BKI - Jeju Air, Eastar Jet, Jin Air and Air Seoul, with a significant increase of 6.8% of traffic growth between South Korea and BKI in 2018 as compared to the year before. Therefore, we see massive potential for both Daegu-Kota Kinabalu and Busan-Kota Kinabalu routes. We are confident that the airline is poised to gain by operating these two sectors.”
Raja Azmi added that Malaysia Airports is committed towards building a strong and mutually beneficial relationship with Air Busan to support its growth and make the airline’s operation a continuous success. “We are also thankful to the Ministry of Transport Malaysia and Sabah Tourism Board for their support in facilitating the commencement of Air Busan into Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
Up to March, Sabah has received more than 1 million total visitors, an increase of 9.1% compared to the same period last year. From the total arrivals, 82,074 are from South Korea.
Contact Person:
Diana Gaban
+6013 8656877
Communications & Digital Division
Sabah Tourism Board
