KOTA KINABALU: South Korea's low-cost airline Eastar Jet inaugurated its second service to this city yesterday with its new Busan-Kota Kinabalu route.
Already plying the Incheon (Seoul)-Kota Kinabalu route since July 2010, the carrier kicked-off its Busan-KK service with the arrival of its ZE941 flight from Busan at 10.55pm here yesterday.
Sabah Tourism Board (STB) general manager Gordon Yapp said the new sector means that there are now 35 direct international flights into Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA).
"As Eastar Jet executive managing director Jeong Nak Min said, Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and we are looking forward to an increase of up to three or four per cent of South Koreans arrival with the new route," he said in a press conference here.
Up to Sept this year, 144,596 South Korean tourists arrived here via Seoul through four airlines flying to KKIA, which Yapp said constitutes an increase of 45.2 per cent compared to last year.
"There is also potential to promote Kota Kinabalu, or Sabah, as a Mice (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) hub to South Koreans, as it is only a four-and-a-half-hour flight here.
“We will also be targeting families and couples," he added.