Kuching Rises as Malaysia’s Fifth Busiest International Gateway

Malaysia continues to strengthen its position as a global aviation hub, with more than 3,343 international flights every week connecting the country to 126 cities across 37 nations. These flights bring up to 674,000 international passengers weekly to 13 cities nationwide.

📍 Kuching has emerged as the fifth busiest international gateway in Malaysia, handling 41 international flights per week, reflecting Sarawak’s growing global connectivity.

According to Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, Kuala Lumpur remains Malaysia’s main international gateway with 2,775 weekly flights and a passenger capacity of over 570,000.

Other major gateways include:
• Penang – 287 flights (53,000 passengers)
• Kota Kinabalu – 132 flights (24,000 passengers)
• Johor Bahru – 49 flights

🌏 ASEAN remains Malaysia’s largest contributor, with 1,799 direct weekly flights. Including 37 transit flights via Bali, Phuket and Singapore, the total reaches 1,836 flights weekly.
Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand lead ASEAN connectivity with 679, 470 and 331 flights respectively.

ASEAN flights alone can carry up to 335,000 passengers per week, with more than one-third coming from Indonesia. This figure also includes Australian travellers transiting via Bali.

🌐 Regional connectivity breakdown:
• East Asia – 818 flights
• South Asia – 394 flights
• Middle East – 128 flights
• Oceania – 106 flights
• Europe – 43 flights
• Central Asia – 14 flights
• Africa – 4 flights

🇨🇳 China leads East Asia with 623 weekly flights, carrying about 124,200 passengers, followed by Japan with 70 flights and nearly 20,000 passengers, plus 19 transit flights via Taipei.

🇮🇳 In South Asia, India has the strongest air links to Malaysia with 232 weekly flights, carrying up to 44,400 passengers.
🇦🇪 In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates leads with 53 flights, bringing up to 16,000 passengers weekly.

✈️ Currently, 76 airlines from 37 countries and territories operate flights to Malaysia, including nine new airlines introduced this year. Up to 40 new international routes are set to launch in 2025.

China stands out with 16 operating airlines, further strengthening connectivity and opening access to more secondary cities.

🌟 Malaysia’s skies are getting busier — and the future of air travel connectivity looks brighter than ever.