KUALA LUMPUR, 4 April 2024: China and Malaysia’s bilateral visa-free travel policy is driving new routes and flight increases between the two countries, according to Tourism Malaysia’s Director-General Manoharan Periasamy.
He was attending the launch of services from Chengdu and Shenzhen in China to Kuala Lumpur over the Easter weekend, noting that the visa-free travel facility, effective until 31 December 2024, has prompted a significant increase in bookings to Malaysia.
“With the visa exemption and more upcoming new flights throughout 2024, we are optimistic we can hit the target of welcoming 7 million tourists from China”.
In 2023, Malaysia welcomed 1.47 million arrivals from China, an exponential growth of 593.4% compared to the same period in 2022, with 212,603 arrivals. In 2022, tourists from China ranked 6th in overall tourist arrivals into Malaysia and significantly jumped to the fourth rank in 2023.
Sichuan Airlines and China Southern Airlines started new routes from Chengdu and Shenzhen, China, to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, over the Easter holiday.
Sichuan Airlines
Flight 3U3994 departs Chengdu (TFU) at 1725, arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 2230.
Flight 3U3994 departs Kuala Lumpur (KUL) at 2330, arriving in Chengdu (TFU) at 0500.
The daily flight will compete head-on with AirAsia X, which flies the same route daily, Batik Air four times weekly, and Air China daily. The average roundtrip fare on the route is USD330.
China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines started daily flights from Shenzhen (SZX) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) today, Monday, 1 April, deploying an A321neo on the route.
Flight CZ5079 departs Shenzhen (SZX) at 2020, arriving in Kuala Lumpur (KUL) at 0300.
Flight CZ5080 departs Kuala Lumpur (KUL) at 0130, arriving in Shenzhen (SZX) at 0545.
Other airlines serving the SZX-KUL route are AirAsia, with 17 weekly flights, and Shenzhen Airlines, with 14 weekly flights. Once you add the daily China Southern Airlines flights, the KUL-SZX route musters 38 weekly flights, making it one of the busiest routes between China and Malaysia. The average roundtrip fare is USD300.
