SEPANG: The first batch of tourists arrived here after Malaysia Airlines launched its first direct flight from Doha, Qatar.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Sri Nancy Shukri said the new service would continue to drive Malaysia's tourism recovery.
"This new route will further boost the growth of traffic flow via KLIA, opening up Malaysia more broadly to travellers from other international destinations.
"The service will provide passengers seamless connectivity via Doha's Hamad International Airport, enabling optimal connections to the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, through the airline's codeshare partnership with Qatar Airways," she said when welcoming the first batch of tourists from Doha at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Present was Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail.
The national airline will operate a direct daily flight between KLIA and Hamad International Airport.
Flight MH160 departs KLIA at 9.20pm and the return MH161 flight departs Doha at 1.30am the next day.
The daily service will be operated with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft, equipped with 290 seats - comprising 27 in business class, 16 economy with extra legroom and 247 in basic economy class.
"It is indeed a huge relief for the tourism industry as we welcome more international tourists, newcomers and regulars alike, to further boost our economy.
"Therefore, we hope for a strong rebound in our market as the border reopening will open doors for the tourism revival to bolster recovery.
"We are targeting to attract two million international tourist arrivals this year with more than RM8.6 billion in tourism receipts," said Nancy.
Izham had announced the national airline's new route to Doha starting May 25, saying it was an excellent opportunity to expand its network and offerings, including connecting the Asean market with the Middle East region.
According to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), international traffic at its local network of airports increased by 53 per cent after Malaysia reopened its borders to international tourists from April 1.
Since then, MAHB has been recording an average of 23,000 international passenger movements daily, with numbers peaking above 30,000 during the recent long Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive break.
Overall, the airports recorded a total of 642,128 international passenger movements out of which Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Penang International Airport and Langkawi International Airport showed the most significant increase by more than 200 per cent, respectively, when compared to the preceding month.
MAHB recorded a total of 2.78 million passengers for Malaysia in April, with domestic passenger movements totalling 2.13 million or 77 per cent.