Sabah Airport flooded with Korean tourists

KOTA KINABALU - The continuous arrival of over 1,000 South Korean tourists at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on Wednesday night sparked chaos at the airport.

Sabah Tourism Culture, and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew said that the situation occurred due to five South Korean airlines landing at the airport in close succession.

Based on information from KKIA Management, the arriving airlines were Jin Air (arrived from Incheon at 9.47 pm with 385 passengers); Jeju Air (arrived from Incheon, 157 passengers); Air Busan (arrived from Busan at 10.40 pm, 193 passengers); Jeju Air (arrived from Incheon at 11.25 pm, 179 passengers); and T'way (arrived from Incheon at 11.49 pm, 184 passengers).

"I have been informed by KKIA management that all 10 immigration counters were open that night.

"I have also received feedback from players in the tourism industry and members of the business community who witnessed the situation that the restroom facilities at the airport were insufficient," she said in a statement on Friday.

In light of this, Christina urged Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd (MASB) to expedite the upgrading of facilities at KKIA as there was an urgent need to extend the terminal at the airport.

"We need more immigration counters, and I believe a reorganization of the counters is necessary to reduce congestion and facilitate the clearance process," she said.

Christina also expressed her disappointment that the early warnings of this phenomenon before the expected reopening of international borders were not taken seriously by the relevant authorities.

Therefore, she called on KKIA management to start work immediately by enhancing the existing facilities to cope with the influx of international and domestic tourists.

Prior to this, Christina was informed that MASB has allocated RM8.4 million to upgrade facilities at KKIA.

An amount of RM1.4 million from the allocation would be used to improve public restrooms at the airport by adding more cubicles, while the rest would be used for other upgrading projects.

This includes runway resurfacing, upgrading commercial lots, and the Public Announcement (PA) system.