Kuching International Airport  is Sarawak's main international airport and is 11 km south of Kuching City.

Kuching International Airport is the secondary hub for both Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia .There are over 251 domestic flights per week from Kuching Airport.  

Kuching International Airport has direct flights to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bandar Seri Begawan and Perth in Western Australia and to Hong Kong via Kota Kinabalu.

There are also direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Miri and Sibu, from Johor Bahru to Kuching, and from Kota Kinabalu and Labuan to Kuching and Bintulu Town

AirAsia flies Kuching-Macau route

AirAsia introduced Kuching - Macau route November 2007 making it the only airline to serve the international route to Macau from the Kuching hub with three flights weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Currently, the Kuching hub serves seven routes to Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Miri, Bintulu and Sibu. Macau is the first international destination from this hub.

The Wings of Borneo travel package was launched at the World Travel Mart (WTM) in London on November 12, 2007 Aiming at attracting more tourists from United Kingdom and Europe to Borneo, the travel package was launched by Malaysia's Minister of Tourism Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor at Malaysia's pavilion at the travel mart. The four-day WTM ended on November 15, 2007

The Wings of Borneo is a collaborative effort of Sarawak Tourism Board, Sabah Tourism Board, Brunei Tourism and MASWings Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, and aimed at boosting the tourism industry in Borneo. The travel package offers travelers exciting and easy ways to explore and tour places of interest in Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. Three different packages had been drawn up under this package, each catering for the different interest of travelers. Designed with themes, travelers have the choice of Naturally Borneo, Treasure Borneo and Mystical Borneo. Each package is for a 15-day tour offering glimpses of the rich culture, adventure and nature attractions in Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei.

The packages also include visiting the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Gunung Mulu and Gunung Kinabalu. With starting price of USD 171 for airfare only, travelers have the flexibility to begin their tour from any of the three cities in Borneo. With such flexibility, travelers could also customize their travel itineraries to their convenience. For the more adventurous, there are also two exciting travel passes for a 14-day tour each. Called the Borneo Pass 5 and Borneo Pass 7, each pass allows travelers to visit any of the cities and towns in Sarawak and Sabah. With the pass, travelers can opt to start their tour either from Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan, Sandakan or Tawau and Borneo Pass 5 allows travelers to travel to any of the five sectors while Borneo Pass 7 is for seven sectors. All the nights for both passes are on MASWings. MASWings operated a total of 451 weekly flights and serving 21 destinations in Sarawak and Sabah.

For booking, log on to www.maswings.com.my or call Malaysia Airlines Call Centre at +603 78433000 (outside Malaysia) or 1 300 88 3000 (within Malaysia). Bookings can also be made at any Malaysia Airlines ticket offices and travel agents.

The Macau flights are on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday departing Kuching at 3.40pm while the return flights are at 7.55pm.

With the availability of Kuching-Macau flights, Sarawak is hoping to attract more visitors from Macau, Guangzhou, Szenchen and Hong Kong. This is due to the close proximity of all these places to Macau.

Sarawak is also targeting at attracting the large expatriate community living in Macau to come holidaying in the State. Local tour operators have also been encouraged to take advantage of the direct flights to form attractive holiday packages to lure more visitors from China to Sarawak.

AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Datuk Tony Femandes had also indicated that AirAsia is planning to operate direct flight from Kuching to Perth and Jakarta soon.

Kuching International Airport is 8km from Kuching City centre

In 2008 the airport was upgraded for unrestricted operation of Boeing 747 aircraft. Major upgrade works involved in extension of main terminal building as well as the existing runway and taxiway.

Kuching International Airport is the second most busiest airport (4th  busiest airport in terms of aircrafts movements) in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

INDEX of Kuching City  August 10, 2010 08:42:35 AM