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Malindo Air, a premium airline in Malaysia, has commence its inaugural flight to Tawau this morning. Flight OD1700 departed from Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) at 8:10a.m. and arrived Tawau Airport at 9:00a.m.
The returning flight OD1701 from Tawau is scheduled at 9:40a.m. and will arrive in KLIA at 10:40a.m. A narrow-body Boeing 737-800 aircraft, comprising of 12 Business Class and 150 Economy Class seats is deployed for the daily flight.
“We are thrilled to start our connection to Tawau, the second city that we fly to in Sabah.
“At Kota Kinabalu, we have direct connection to Kuching, Singapore, Taipei, Wuhan, ChongQing, as well as 5 daily flights to Kuala Lumpur that link our passengers to our network ranging from ASEAN to Australia.
“We are anticipating business travellers, VFR (Visit Friends & Relative) and leisure travellers for this route,” said Malindo Air chief executive officer Chandran Rama Muthy.
According to Malaysia Airports acting group chief executive officer, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, “As the airport operator, we are more than happy and supportive of Malindo Air’s move to open this new domestic route from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau.
“This also complements the Visit Tawau Year, which we strongly believe will attract higher passenger traffic domestically particularly leisure travellers.
“In fact, as of October 2018, Tawau Airport registered 1.3 million passengers, which is an 18% increase from the previous year for both its international and domestic route.
“We believe that with this strategic move, it will further elevate Sabah's tourism and bring more economic benefits to the state.”
Tawau is strategically located at the borders of Malaysia, Indonesia and Philipines. It is a popular transit point for cargo traffic and for tourist headed for beaches and diving activities at Semporna.
The flights between Kota Kinabalu and Tawau are offered at promotional all-in one way fare of RM99 for Economy Class and RM399 for Business Class. The fare includes spacious legroom, 25kg baggage allowance for Economy Class and 40kg for Business Class.
