How to get to Kota Kinabalu Malaysia?
Travelling by air is by far the best way to reach Kota Kinabalu. There are many airlines operating from flights from different parts of the world to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Some of them are Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Malaysian Airlines and AirAsia.
Airlines flying to Kota Kinabalu
Currently, there are 16 airlines that fly to Kota Kinabalu. Most flights to Kota Kinabalu are operated by AirAsia, as they connect 18 airports to BKI. That’s around 3 times as much as Malaysia Airlines, the second biggest airline in terms of operated flight routes to Kota Kinabalu. Below you can find a list of airlines that operate most BKI flights:
AirAsia is an airline of Malaysia and is Asia’s largest low cost airline. The airline group also operates subsidiaries in Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, India and Japan. From its principle hub in Kuala Lumpur, plus other bases in Johor Bahru, Penang, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, AirAsia operates an extensive network within Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Long haul services to Australia, East Asia, West Asia and the Middle East are operated by its subsidiary AirAsia X.
Malaysia Airlines (MH)7 routes to BKI
Cebu Pacific (5J)1 route to BKI
Myanmar Airways (8M)1 route to BKI
Royal Brunei Airlines (BI)1 route to BKI
Shanghai Airlines (FM)1 route to BKI
Business class flights to Kota Kinabalu
There are 4 airports that have flights to Kota Kinabalu in Business Class. All airports that offer business class flights to BKI are listed below:
Brunei and Muara (BWN), Brunei
International flights to Kota Kinabalu
Flights from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu, Brunei and Muara is the only city in Brunei with direct flights to Kota Kinabalu. From Brunei and Muara, direct flights are offered by Royal Brunei Airlines.
Flights from China to Kota Kinabalu
In China there are several airports with flights to Kota Kinabalu (6 in total).
From Beijing Daxing, direct flights are offered by AirAsia. This is a seasonal route that starts in November and ends in March.
From Guangzhou, you can fly non-stop with AirAsia or China Southern.
From Hangzhou, you can fly non-stop to Kota Kinabalu with AirAsia. This is a seasonal route that starts in November and ends in March.
From Shanghai, the only airline with direct flights is Shanghai Airlines. This is a seasonal route that starts in November and ends in March.
From Shenzhen and Wuhan, you can fly with AirAsia.
Flights from Hong Kong to Kota Kinabalu, In Hong Kong, the only airport that has a direct connection to Kota Kinabalu is Hong Kong. From Hong Kong, direct flights are offered by AirAsia.
Flights from Japan to Kota Kinabalu, There is 1 airport in Japan that has a direct connection to Kota Kinabalu, which is Tokyo. From Tokyo, direct flights are offered by Malaysia Airlines (Oneworld). This is a seasonal route that starts in December and ends in March.
Flights from Macao to Kota Kinabalu, In Macao, the only airport that has a direct connection to Kota Kinabalu is Macau. From Macau, direct flights are offered by AirAsia. This route is not operational yet but will start in January.
Flights from Philippines to Kota Kinabalu, Manila is the only city in Philippines with direct flights to Kota Kinabalu. From Manila, you can fly non-stop with AirAsia or Cebu Pacific.
Flights from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu, There is 1 airport in Singapore that has a direct connection to Kota Kinabalu, which is Singapore. From Singapore, you can fly non-stop with AirAsia or Scoot.
Flights from South Korea to Kota Kinabalu, There are 2 airports in South Korea that have non-stop flights to Kota Kinabalu.
From Busan, direct flights are offered by Air Busan., From Seoul, direct flights are offered by Jeju Air, Jin Air and Tway Air. This is a seasonal route that starts in November and ends in March.
Flights from Taiwan to Kota Kinabalu, Taipei is the only city in Taiwan with direct flights to Kota Kinabalu. From Taipei, direct flights are offered by AirAsia.
Domestic flights to Kota Kinabalu
Flights from Malaysia to Kota Kinabalu
There are lots of domestic flights to Kota Kinabalu (BKI). 15 airports in Malaysia have direct flights to the airport.
From Bintulu Division, direct flights are offered by AirAsia.
From Gunung Mulu National Park, the only airline with direct flights is Malaysia Airlines (Oneworld).
From Johor Bahru and Kota Bharu, you can fly with AirAsia.
From Kuala Lumpur, there are 5 airlines that have direct services to Kota Kinabalu, which are AirAsia, AirAsia X, Batik Air, Malaysia Airlines (Oneworld) and Myanmar Airways.
From Kuching, you can fly non-stop with AirAsia or Firefly.
From Labuan, Lahad Datu, Lawas and Limbang, all direct flights to Kota Kinabalu are operated by Malaysia Airlines (Oneworld).
From Miri, direct flights are offered by AirAsia.
From Penang, you can fly non-stop to Kota Kinabalu with Firefly. This is a seasonal route that starts in November and ends in March.
From Sandakan, you can fly non-stop with AirAsia or Firefly.
From Sibu, the only airline with direct flights is AirAsia.
From Tawau, you can fly non-stop with AirAsia or Firefly.
Alternative airports near Kota Kinabalu
Flying to an alternative airport near Kota Kinabalu could give you other options to reach your destination. For example, the possibility to fly with a different airline or alliance, or finding a cheaper airfare. For this reason, alternative airports near to Kota Kinabalu (BKI) are listed below. The closest alternative airports are Labuan (LBU) and Lawas (LWY).