Marcel Simok
Malaysia Airlines marked another milestone in its network expansion plan by introducing a new direct flight between Kota Kinabalu and Singapore.
The inaugural flight arrived at Kota Kinabalu International Airport at 12:25 pm via flight MH648 from Changi International Airport, Singapore.
The representatives from Malaysia Airlines Berhad, Tourism Malaysia, Sabah Tourism Board, and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad distributed goodies to the passengers to commemorate the special occasion.
Malaysia Aviation Group chief executive officer, Captain Izham Ismail, said the expansion would further boost connectivity and flexibility for passengers bound to Singapore as many passengers opt for this route for business and leisure travel.
“The airline also offers direct flights to the country via our central hub of Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Kuching.
“With this new service, passengers from Singapore can seamlessly connect to the Land Below the Wind to discover the scenic attractions of Sabah.
Furthermore, the passengers can travel to surrounding states from Kota Kinabalu via sister airlines Firefly and MASwings.
“We look forward to further expanding our growth, introducing new strategic routes and increasing our capacity to achieve more than 70% of our pre-COVID-19 capacity by year-end,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sabah Tourism Board chief executive officer Noredah Othman said the board would continue to promote Sabah as the prefered holiday destination for Singaporeans.
She also added that the board would use the popular Singapore hub as a transit point for long-haul market travellers to reach Sabah.
“Since the re-opening of the SIN-BKI route in April, we have recorded an upward trend with 1,248 arrivals in May and 3,051 arrivals in June. With the inclusion of Malaysia Airlines, we are confident that this trend will continue.”
Malaysia Airlines will operate direct flights weekly on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
The flight departs from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore via MH647 at 07:00 am. Meanwhile, the flight departs from Singapore via MH 648 at 10:00 am.
The B737-800 aircraft will serve the Singapore-Kota Kinabalu route. The aircraft has 160 seats, comprising 16 seats in Business Class and 144 seats in Economy Class.
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