KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia, 16 January 2025: Tourism Malaysia welcomed Lucky Air’s inaugural flight connecting Dali, a historic city in China’s Yunnan Province, to Kuala Lumpur (KUL).
Tourism Malaysia Director of the International Promotion Division (Asia/Africa) Nuwal Fadhilah Ku Azmi welcomed passengers on the inaugural flight. (She was representing Tourism Malaysia Director General Datuk Manoharan Periasamy). Representatives from Malaysia Airports and Post Aviation, the ground handling partner for Lucky Air, also joined the Kuala Lumpur International Airport welcome reception.
The direct twice-weekly flights operate on Monday and Friday using a Boeing 737 with 189 seats. Flight time between Dali Yunnan province, China, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is three hours and 30 minutes. Skyscanner quotes a starting roundtrip fare at USD368.
Flight schedule
Flight 8L843 departs Dali (DLU) at 1345 and arrives in Kuala Lumpur (KUL) at 1730.
Flight 8L844 departs Kuala Lumpur (KUL) at 1830 and arrives in Dali (DLU) at 2200.
This is Lucky Air’s second route. In September 2024, the airline flew charter flights from Lijiang, Yunnan Province, to Kuala Lumpur for two months, ending in November
The decision to resume flights to Malaysia followed the official visit of Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, to Lucky Air’s headquarters during a sales mission to China in December 2024. This initiative aims to increase flight frequencies from various cities in China’s Yunnan Province to Malaysia.
From January to November 2024, Malaysia welcomed 3,038,314 tourists from China, reflecting an impressive year-on-year growth of 132.7%. The extension of the visa-free policy for Chinese nationals until 31 December 2026, alongside the expanding connectivity between Malaysia and China, is expected to further elevate tourist visits in 2025.
