Datuk Seri Tiong King Sin announced that nine new international routes will connect five major destinations in Malaysia to various countries. In addition, a new charter flight route will also be introduced, bringing the total number of weekly flights to Malaysia to 3,100. The 10 new routes are set to be launched progressively, starting on November 28, with Vietjet’s daily direct flights between Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur.“By mid-December, Indigo Airlines will make its debut with three new routes connecting Malaysia and India,” said Tiong.

“These include daily flights from Bengaluru to Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, as well as a daily flight from Chennai to Penang,” he said.

Other new routes include Batik Air’s daily flights between Bangkok and Johor Baru, AirAsia’s three weekly flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Airlines’ five weekly flights from Kolkata to Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai Airlines’ three weekly flights from Yuncheng to Kuala Lumpur, and Jiangxi Airlines’ twice-weekly flights from Nanchang to Kuala Lumpur, with the launch date to be confirmed.

On Dec 10, Jeju Air will introduce a charter flight route offering twice-weekly flights between Muan in South Korea, and Kota Kinabalu.

“These routes will connect five key destinations within the country -- Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi and Penang, offering greater travel convenience and attracting even more international tourists.

“These additional routes will allow multiple states to share the benefits of the tourism market while providing diverse travel options to maximise convenience,” Tiong said, noting this would undoubtedly enhance Malaysia’s competitiveness in the global tourism industry.

“Once all 10 routes are operational, they will add an additional 50 international flights per week to Malaysia.

“This will increase our weekly maximum passenger capacity by over 7,400, bringing the total number of international flights to over 3,100 per week. The maximum passenger capacity will rise from 612,423 to nearly 620,000 passengers per week,” he said.

As of October, international tourist arrivals to Malaysia have exceeded 20.5 million for 2024, surpassing the 20.14 million recorded for the entire year of 2023.

“I am optimistic that this year-end push will bring us closer to pre-pandemic levels,” he added.