Kuching among key airports in Malaysia’s 21 new int’l routes expansion

File photo of the scenic beauty of Kuching Waterfront.

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Dec 27: In preparation for Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY 2026), 21 new international flight routes will be introduced starting this month until mid-January next year.

In a Facebook post, Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, said the expansion consists of 16 scheduled flights and five charter flights, operated by 10 airlines, connecting Malaysia to Asean countries, East Asia, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka.

“Of the 16 scheduled routes, 13 will begin this month, while the remaining ones will start in January. These routes will add 81 direct flights to Malaysia, with a maximum capacity of 13,936 passengers per week.

“As for the five charter flights, four will commence in December and one in January,” said Tiong, who is also Bintulu MP and assemblyman for Dudong.

He said the new flight services will involve eight countries and 17 destinations, linking Malaysia to nine airports in the country, namely Kuala Lumpur, Subang, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Kuching, Ipoh, and Langkawi, with East Asia as the main focus of this route expansion.

Seven scheduled flights and three charter flights will connect Malaysia to eight cities in China.

Additionally, new scheduled flights will be launched to Osaka, Japan, and Busan, South Korea, while Taichung, Taiwan, will receive charter flights.

“Within the Asean region, six scheduled flights will connect Malaysia to Singapore, Jakarta, and Medan in Indonesia, as well as Cebu in the Philippines,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, will each receive one scheduled flight.

Tiong added that most of the new routes will be operated by local airlines, with Batik Air operating eight scheduled flights and one charter and AirAsia launching one scheduled and one charter flight, along with one scheduled flight by Firefly.

He added that foreign airlines expanding operations to Malaysia include six airlines from China—Loong Air, Shandong Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, and Juneyao Air—which will operate five scheduled flights and three charter flights.

The remaining new flights will be offered by T’way Air from South Korea. — DayakDaily