KOTA KINABALU: South Koreans are back to visiting Sabah following the resumption of Air Busan's direct flights from its capital, Seoul.
Air Busan is the second Korean-based low-cost airline returning to Kota Kinabalu after the Covid-19 pandemic, yesterday, following Jin Air on May 26.
The Air Busan BX 767 flight took off from Incheon International Airport carrying 196 passengers.
It landed at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) at 11.10pm and its arrival was celebrated with a water cannon salute.
Sabah Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said: "The Koreans' willingness and confidence to return to Sabah is a great sign for us.
"While we want to promote Sabah to international visitors, we also want to encourage locals to take advantage of this direct flight and explore Korea."
Joniston, who is also Sabah Tourism Board chairman, along with its chief executive officer, Noredah Othman, and KKIA senior airport manager Sunif Naiman greeted the passengers disembarking from the aircraft with souvenirs courtesy of Sabah Tourism.
Air Busan currently operates twice weekly flights to Kota Kinabalu, on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Another Korean low-cost airline, Jeju Air, is expected to resume direct flights to Sabah on June 29.
For now, all three airlines will depart via Incheon.
The resumption of the Sabah-South Korea route was made possible after Joniston and Noredah visited Seoul in early May to meet top officials of Jin Air, Air Busan, Jeju Air and several other Korean airlines.
They also held a meeting with two top Korean travel companies, Mode Tour and Hana Tour.
-nst online.
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