January 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm
Sabah depends on tourist arrivals from and via Kuala Lumpur (KL) to boost its tourism sector as the country’s captial is the gateway for most international travellers. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said daily flights between KL and Kota Kinabalu were important attributes to Sabah’s tourism sector growth.
Sabah's most famous tourist attraction, Mount Kinabalu
“At one time, we were unable to grow our tourism sector as fast as we would have liked to and this was, to a certain extent, attributed to the lack of flights between KL and Kota Kinabalu.
“Air travel is, after all, the only way for tourists, who fly into the nation’s capital, to get to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said at the ceremony to celebrate Firefly Sdn Bhd’s operations with the arrival of its Boeing B737-800 here Monday.
Firefly is a unit of Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS).
The text of his speech was read by State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
Musa said airline operators were now aware of the need to fly between the two destinations as demand has increased.
He said the number of daily flights for the route has increased, giving airline operators a healthy competition while making it easier for travellers to visit Sabah.
“Firefly’s participation along with other airlines in providing links between Kota Kinabalu and KL will provide travellers, both local and foreign, more options.
“I believe the competition will also drive aviation players to offer the most competitive rates,” he said.
MAS chairman, Tan Sri Munir Majid, said Firefly’s flights here demonstrated the airline’s commitment to develop Kota Kinabalu as its eastern hub as well as contribute to the tourism growth in Sabah and Sarawak.
“In the first week since operating the KL-Kota Kinabalu route on Jan 15, 2011 Firefly has achieved a passenger load factor of 77 per cent,” he said.
Firefly’s managing director, Datuk Eddy Leong, said the airline, with low fares, offered three daily flights between KL and Kota Kinabalu.
“Flights depart the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.55am, 1.05pm and 7.15pm, while flights from Terminal 1, Kota Kinabalu International Airport take off at 10am, 4.10pm and 10.20pm.