Gateways to Sabah: Flights to and from Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is the primary gateway to Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Approximately 8km south of KK city, 7 million passengers were handled in 2023, making it the second busiest airport in Malaysia.
Aerial picture of Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA)
Departing Kota Kinabalu International Airport
Gateways to Sabah
For visitors to Sabah KUL, SIN & HKG are all very popular gateways, but others you could consider are:
Bandar Seri Begawan (BWN) in Brunei (Royal Brunei Airlines have a growing international network, and BWN is only 20 minutes flying time from Kota Kinabalu)
Seoul (ICN)
Tokyo-Narita (NRT)
Could you combine your visit to Sabah with a city break?
Air Asia connections with Shanghai
Air Asia (AK) has a thrice-weekly (Tue/Thu/Sat) service Kota Kinabalu (BKI) - Shanghai (PVG) - Kota Kinabalu (BKI)
International Flights
Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan
Royal Brunei Airlines (BI) operates six flights per week flights Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Bandar Seri Begawan (BWN)
China, Beijing (PKX)
Air Asia (AK) operates four flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Beijing Daxing (PKX)
Guangzhou (CAN)
Air Asia (AK) operates six flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Guangzhou (CAN)
China Southern (CZ) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Guangzhou (CAN)
Hangzhou
Air Asia (AK) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Hangzhou (HGH)
Hong Kong
Air Asia (AK) operates ten flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Hong Kong (HKG)
Shanghai
Shanghai Airlines (FM) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Shanghai (PVG)
Shenzhen
Air Asia (AK) operates a daily flight Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Shenzhen (SZX)
Wuhan
Air Asia (AK) operates 6 flights per week Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Wuhan (WUH)
Indonesia, Jakarta
Indonesia Air Asia (QZ) operates three weekly flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Jakarta (CGK)
Japan, Tokyo
Malaysia Airlines (MH) operates two weekly flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Tokyo-Narita (NRT)
Philippines, Manila
Air Asia (Z2) operates three flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Manila (MNL)
Cebu Pacific (5J) operates three flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Manila (MNL)
Singapore
Air Asia operates (AK) operates 11 flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Singapore (SIN)
Scoot (TR) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Singapore (SIN)
South Korea, Seoul
Jin Air (LJ) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Seoul-Incheon (ICN)
T’way Air (TW) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Seoul-Incheon (ICN)
Jeju Air (7C) operates six flights a week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Seoul-Incheon (ICN)
Asiana (OZ) operates six flights a week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Seoul-Incheon (ICN)
Taiwan, Taipei
Air Asia (AK) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Taipei (TPE)
Malaysia Airlines (MH) operates three flights a week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Taipei (TPE)
Domestic Flights, Peninsula Malaysia
Johor Bahru
Air Asia (AK) operates two daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Johor Bahru (JHB)
Kota Bharu
Air Asia (AK) operates three flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kota Bharu (KBR)
Kuala Lumpur
Air Asia (AK) operates 11-14 daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuala Lumpur (Terminal 2) (KUL)
Malaysia Airlines (MH) operates 8-10 daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuala Lumpur (Terminal 1) (KUL)
Malindo Air (OD) operates 2-3 daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuala Lumpur (Terminal 1) (KUL)
MYAirline (Z9) operates three daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuala Lumpur (Terminal 2) (KUL)
Penang
Air Asia (AK) operates two daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Penang (PEN)
Firefly (FY) operates two daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Penang (PEN)
Federal Territory, Labuan
MASwings (MH) operates four daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Labuan (LBU)
Within Sabah
Lahad Datu
MASwings (MH) operates 3-4 daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Lahad Datu (LDU)
Sandakan
Air Asia (AK) operates four daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Sandakan (SDK)
Malaysia Airlines (MH) operates five flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Sandakan (SDK)
Tawau
Air Asia (AK) operates five daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Tawau (TWU)
Malaysia Airlines (MH) operates five flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Tawau (TWU)
Sarawak
Bintulu
Air Asia (AK) operates operates five flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Bintulu (BTU)
Kuching
Air Asia (AK) operates three daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuching (KCH)
Malaysia Airlines operates eight flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Kuching (KCH)
Lawas
MASwings (MH) operates two flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Lawas (LWY)
Miri
Air Asia (AK) operates two daily flights from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Miri (MYY)
Mulu
MASwings (MH) operates a daily flight from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Mulu (MZV)
Sibu
Air Asia (AK) operates nine flights per week from Kota Kinabalu (BKI) to Sibu (SBW)
Where is Sabah?
Borneo is the world’s third-largest island, located at the geographic centre of maritime southeast Asia. Politically, the island is divided into three countries. By far, the largest area of the landmass is Indonesian territory known as Kalimantan, whilst by comparison, Brunei takes up only about 1% of the total area of Borneo. The remainder is Malaysian territory, and the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak form what is known as East Malaysia.
Geographically, Sabah occupies the northern part of Borneo island and has a population of some 3.8 million and, in terms of size, is a little smaller than Scotland in area. Sabah is five degrees north of the Equator and is tropical. Accordingly, It’s warm all year round without exception, and in KK and other areas at sea level, the average daytime temperature is around 27C – 32C. By comparison, the Kinabalu National Park is around 1500 metres above sea level and is, of course, cooler, with an average daytime temperature of 20C – 25C falling to around 16C – 18C at night, whilst at the summit of Mount Kinabalu it may be just 4C – 5C.
Being tropical, it is always possible to rain on any day, and January through April is often the period with the least rainfall. If you intend to climb Mount Kinabalu, October and December are the wetter months.
Putting Sabah on the map, with the red marker showing the capital Kota Kinabalu. As you can see Kuala Lumpa and Singapore are two of the ideal options for stopovers en route to Sabah.