Eastar’s Busan – Kota Kinabalu starts. Now 35 international flights

It’s definitely another good news for Kota Kinabalu (KK) as a popular destination. As usual with more tourists, there would be more tourism ringgits and with more locals having more money, some of it would be going to the property market. Reported in NST, South Korea’s low-cost airline Eastar jet has started its second service to Kota Kinabalu via the Busan – Kota Kinabalu route. Speaking about Busan, this is one city I told my wife that we should pay a visit. I have only been to Seoul thus far. (Plus won money in a hotel casino there. Haha)  Of course, Busan has also recently become extremely famous because of the movie, ‘Train to Busan.’ (Yes, it’s pretty gory…) My good friend took her children to watch the movie some time back and until today, none of her kids like to even talk about trains as a topic. Okay, let’s focus on KK.
According to Sabah Tourism Board general manager Gordon Yapp, with the addition of this new route, Kota Kinabalu would now have 35 direct international flights. According to Eastar Jet executive managing director Jeong Nak Min, Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and they are targeting an increase of between 3 to 4 percent more South Korean arrivals into Kota Kinabalu. For 2016, as at September 2016, Yapp said 144,596 South Koreans have visited Kota Kinabalu International Airport. (KKIA). In other words, over 16k South Koreans per month. Kota Kinabalu is also a very appropriate MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) hub to South Koreans as it is only 4.5 hours away.
I personally think KK is a great MICE destination even for local based companies, especially those from the Peninsular. It’s always very funny when I hear them visiting some beaches out of Malaysia and was impressed and yet they have never been to Sabah which actually has many awesome beaches too, if not better. Yes, even the diving sites are also fantastic too and is among the best in the world. So, time to visit yet? Can always drop me an email if you like someplace to visit in Sabah. I do goat least 3-4 times per year as it’s considered my half-hometown. 🙂  Additionally, as per MAHB’s filing with Bursa Malaysia, KKIA grew 46 percent in terms of passenger traffic from Jan – Sept 2016 when compared to same period in 2015. As at 2015, Kota Kinabalu was still the second busiest Malaysian airport. This only meant KKIA is now an even stronger number two Malaysian airport as at September 2016. Happy thinking about KK as a property investment destination.
written on 16 Dec 2016
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