Air Travel to Sabah, Borneo

Getting to Sabah through air travel is easy. The main gateway to Sabah is via Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) located in Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah. KKIA is the second busiest airport in Malaysia (after Kuala Lumpur International Airport) servicing more than 70 international flights per week.

KKIA currently receives direct non-stop flights from Peninsular Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru), Sarawak (Kuching), Japan (Osaka and Tokyo), Korea (Seoul), China (Shanghai and Guangzhou), Taiwan (Taipei and Kaoshiung), Hong Kong, The Philippines (Manila, Cebu, Puerto Princessa, Zamboanga), Brunei Darussalam, Thailand (Bangkok) and Singapore.

If you are coming from around Asia, air travel to Sabah may be just short flight away. You have a choice of several airlines including Malaysian Airlines System, Air Asia/Thai Air Asia, Royal Brunei Airlines, Dragonair, Far Eastern Airlines, TransAsia, Uniair, Phoenix Air and Asiana Airlines to catch a direct route to Kota Kinabalu.

If you are coming from Australia or New Zealand, Malaysian Airlines and Royal Brunei Airlines fly to Sabah with one stop-over (in Kuala Lumpur and Brunei Darussalam respectively) from several major cities in the Australasia region. The transit flight from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu only takes about 20 minutes whereas the flight from Kuala Lumpur across the South China Sea takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. There used to be a direct Sydney to Kota Kinabalu flight by Australian Airlines but unfortunately, it was discontinued early 2005.

If you are coming from North America, Europe or other continents, all you have to do is find the most convenient flight route from your country that goes to Kuala Lumpur. There are more frequency of daily flights to Sabah from there than from Johor Bahru. But if you have a prior vacation in other Asian countries, then you can choose between the direct route from Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, China, Japan or Taiwan.

If you are already in Peninsular Malaysia (or West Malaysia as it is sometimes refered to as), then you should have no problem whatsoever to air travel to Sabah. Besides Malaysia Airlines, you might consider using Asia's first no-frill budget airline, Air Asia for cheaper airfares. Watch out for Air Asia's regular online discounted fare special. By the way, Air Asia also flies direct to Kota Kinabalu from Bangkok (Thailand) and Clark (the Philippines). Click here for more information on Air Asia's route to Sabah.

Once you reach Kota Kinabalu International Airport, if your vacation is not arranged by a travel company, you can easily catch a cab to your destination of choice. Taxis from the airport operate under a controlled system. You proceed to a designated counter and purchase a coupon for your destination. If you are not sure, you can ask the airport staff or anyone where's the counter. After getting the coupon, you simply hand it to the taxi driver (normally, there are many taxis queueing up at an area near the counter). You do not need to pay in cash at all.

Click here for more information on Getting Around Sabah, Malaysia Borneo