Sabah Tourism Board In Talks With Scoot For Direct Sandakan-Singapore Route

Barnama

2 days ago

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz
SINGAPORE, Aug 16 (Bernama) -- The Sabah Tourism Board (STB), in collaboration with Tourism MalaSinysia, is in talks with low-cost carrier Scoot to launch direct Singapore–Sandakan route in a move aimed at boosting tourist arrivals from the city-state.
Sabah Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment and STB chairman, Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, said the route would boost Sabah's visibility among Singaporeans and attract other international travellers to travel through Changi Airport.
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'Sabah is not just about Mount Kinabalu or Sipadan, but also Sandakan – a gateway to nature. We have diverse attractions. A lot of Singaporeans love nature, and what better place to visit than Sandakan,' he told Bernama after launching the Sabah Fest 2025 - Singapore Edition, here on Saturday.
Joniston expressed hope that travel agents in Singapore would showcase Sabah's wide-ranging attractions, from the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, by introducing exciting travel packages.
As of May this year, he said more than 13,000 Singaporeans had visited Sabah, and he hoped the number would continue to increase in line with the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY2026) campaign.
'Tourism Malaysia Singapore in collaboration with the Sabah Trade and Tourism Office Singapore (STTOS), together with other agencies, are working hard to help promote Sabah,' he added.
He also expressed hope that Scoot and AirAsia would consider increasing the frequency of their Singapore-Kota Kinabalu direct flights.
Joniston said the three-day Sabah Fest 2025 – Singapore Edition, held at Marina Square from Friday (Aug 15) and organised by STTOS, offers Singaporeans a glimpse of Sabah's culture, tourism and trade ahead of the full-month celebration in the state next month.