‘5m China tourist arrivals achievable’
SEPANG: Tourism Malaysia is confident that the target of over five million tourist arrivals from China can be achieved this year, supported by the frequency of flights from China to Malaysia.
Its director-general P. Manoharan said last year, Malaysia received 1.47 million tourists from China.
“We are positive about reaching over five million tourists from China because the current flight frequency is more than 247 weekly.
“In terms of seat capacity, there are almost 4.9 million seats available from China to Kuala Lumpur”, Manoharan said.
“Flight frequencies will increase, and new routes as well, so we are positive about achieving this target,” he said after welcoming passengers of Sichuan Airlines and China Southern Airlines at a reception at the KL International Airport on Sunday night. The Sichuan Airlines flight from Chengdu and the China Southern Airlines flight from Shenzhen landed at Terminal 1 at 10pm and 12.30am respectively.
Manoharan said airlines from China have also shown interest in establishing direct flights to major cities such as Penang, Johor Bahru and Kuching.
“Sichuan Airlines is planning to operate flights (from China) to Kuching. We welcome airlines from China to operate direct flights to Kuala Lumpur, in addition to charter flights.
“This is also in line with the ministry’s goal to further increase direct flights in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2026,” he said.
Manoharan added that Tourism Malaysia will collaborate with airlines and tourism operators in Malaysia and China to increase flight frequencies to the country.