Lee (third left) presenting a memento to Masidi at the inaugural ceremony of AirAsia’s Kota Kinabalu and Wuhan route here yesterday. 2, 3 & 4. Masidi handing over goodie bags to travellers of AirAsia’s inaugural Kota Kinabalu to Wuhan flight at Kota Kinabalu International Airport here yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: The state capital is set to receive more tourist arrivals from China with the commencement of AirAsia’s flights from Wuhan to Kota Kinabalu today.
The airline celebrated the inaugural and exclusively AirAsia-operated route with a send-off ceremony for the Kota Kinabalu-Wuhan flight, which took off at 6.55pm from Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) yesterday with over 70 percent flight load.
Meanwhile, the Wuhan to Kota Kinabalu (KK) arriving this morning at 4.05am was close to 100% full flight load.
“Wuhan City has a population of 8.3 million people. It is right in the middle of China with no seafront. It is an industrial city, because the people are so hardworking they are eager to go out and take a breather and obviously KK is a very convenient place for them to come,” said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.
“This is why I believe this sector is going to do well and assure that Chinese visitors will continue to come here,” he added.
According to Masidi, the launching of AirAsia flight to Wuhan would mean an increase to 61 flights between China and Kota Kinabalu per week.
“I believe and am confident of the future for the commercial air traffic between China and Kota Kinabalu. As a single airline, they (AirAsia) have brought in the most number of visitors over to Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
“Last year, they flew in over three million passengers. The number is awesome and I believe the number will increase further. We are more than happy to continue assisting AirAsia in any way and that AirAsia will continue to flourish in its endeavour to fly to other parts of Asia,” added Masidi.
The minister said, Sabah’s tourism players should also leverage on the expected influx of visitors by playing their part to render the best service to tourists so that Sabah’s tourism industry would flourish.
He added that the government shares the success as well as the failure of parties who play a part in Sabah’s tourism industry.
“Going forward, to make Sabah industry great, I think we have no reason but to help each other,” he added.
The send-offf was also attended by Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board; Datuk Irene Charuruks, General Manager of Sabah Tourism Board and Spencer Lee, Head of Commercial for AirAsia Berhad.
Lee said the latest route from Kota Kinabalu to Wuhan was part of the airline’s initiative and commitment towards developing Sabah as a gateway to tourists from China into East Malaysia.
He said Wuhan was also the fourth Chinese destination route opened in Sabah.
With AirAsia’s proven track record of flying in 3.8 million passengers in 2015 and 3.7 million in 2014, Lee is confident that more tourists will pour into Sabah this year.
“We see a strong forward booking trend with an average 70 percent load factor up to March 2016 for this route. We are confident that Chinese tourist arrivals into Sabah will continue to grow through the commencement of this route, and strengthen social and cultural ties between both regions,” said Lee.
“On the other hand, Sabahans can now enjoy the best of Wuhan with a direct flight and low fares,” he added.
As part of the celebration for the flight commencement, promotional all-in-fares from as low as RM249 one-way from Kota Kinabalu to Wuhan are up for grabs on airasia.com.
Bookings can be made from now until January 31, this year for traveling dates that start from today till June 30.
The promotion fare is also available via AirAsia’s mobile app on iPhone and Android devices, including on its mobile site mobilesairasia.com.
Kota Kinabalu, which is AirAsia’s second largest international hub in Malaysia now, serves a total of 18 direct routes with 504 weekly flights after the addition of Wuhan into its network.
Guests travelling from Kota Kinabalu can also connect to 12 countries via the Fly-Thru service such as Australia, Thailand, China, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and India.
Wuhan is the capital of the Hubei province in central China and is the most populous city in the area, as well as being the gateway to many must-visit historical attractions.
The Ancient Chibi Battlefield which is also known as the Red cliffs, depicts the epic war during The Three Kingdoms dynasty; Enshi Grand Canyon, a natural site with unparalleled breath-taking views; and the Yandi Shennong Mountain, one of the best preserved forest zones in China.
In Wuhan itself, tourists can enjoy the Yellow Crane Tower, an ancient tower which has been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times but still maintains its old world charm; and the Wuchang Lake, which is the largest lake within a city in China.
Keep updated with AirAsia’s latest promotions and activities via Twitter (twittercom/AirAsia) and Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia).