(22/02/24) AirAsia Malaysia (AK) launched flights between Kota Kinabalu
and Shanghai on Tuesday.
Shanghai is the sixth
destination in Mainland China accessible from Kota Kinabalu,
following Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing and Wuhan.
“We are confident this new route will
prove popular and are encouraged to share that our inaugural
flight recorded full passenger occupancy, demonstrating the strong
early demand and enthusiasm for this new service,” said Bo Lingam,
Group CEO of AirAsia Aviation Group. “We look forward
to continuing to facilitate even more affordable connectivity
between the two popular destinations in the future.”
The airline is operating the route with thrice
weekly flights.
AirAsia Malaysia A320 reg: 9M-AQQ. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com
Flight AK1516
is scheduled to depart from Kota Kinabalu Airport (BKI) every
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 21:30, landing at Shanghai Pudong International Airport
(PVG) at 02:00 the following day.
From Shanghai Pudong, flight AK1517 is slated to
take off every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 03:00, arriving in
Kota Kinabalu at 07:40.
“We truly appreciate AirAsia’s efforts in
continuously boosting tourism opportunities in the state,
especially from the fast-growing Chinese market. As the airline
with the most routes flying in and out of Sabah, AirAsia has been
instrumental in providing affordable travel for all and providing
a welcome boost to our economy with many spin-off effects
including job creation,” said Datuk Christina Liew, Sabah Minister
of Tourism, Culture and Environment. “Sabah Tourism
Board (STB) saw an incredible increase of 1,119% in tourist
arrivals from China between 2022 and 2023. The continuous commitment by AirAsia to launch new routes and grow its services
delivers significant tourism and economic opportunities between
Malaysia and China. This is a great start to the auspicious Year
of the Dragon in the Chinese Lunar New Year.”
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