An OD622 flight of the Baik Air of Malaysia arrived at the Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport on the afternoon of October 15, 2023, marking the official opening of the Zhangjiajie-Malaysia international air route. This is the ninth resumed international route of the Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport, and also the first direct regular flight from Zhangjiajie to Malaysia.

The round-trip flight between Zhangjiajie and Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia will be operated by the Batik Air on every Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday, using a B737 aircraft. A one-way trip will take 4 hours and 50 minutes. According to the operation schedule, the OD622/OD623 flight starts off from Kuala Lumpur at 9:30 and arrives in Zhangjiajie at 14:25; and, the return flight takes off from Zhangjiajie at 15:25 and lands at Kuala Lumpur at 20:05.

Malaysia is a main source of inbound tourists for Zhangjiajie. The opening of this new route will help further enhance commercial, tourism, and cultural exchanges between the two places.

Since the beginning of this year, Zhangjiajie government has given full support to the resumption of international passenger air routes. The port, customs, and relevant authorities provide guidance services on such affairs as flight registration and approval, tourist health information declaration, and on-site customs clearance process. So far, nine international passenger air routes have been put into operation, respectively linking to Bangkok of Thailand, Honai and Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam, Inchon and Busan of South Korea, and Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia. By October 14, the number of inbound and outbound flight trips under regulation reached 1,044 and the inbound and outbound passenger trips totaled 141,000. 

Since the resumption of international flights on April 7 this year, Zhangjiajie has seen soaring inbound trips, from less than 60 in the first quarter to 2,475 at present on a daily average. South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand show a strong momentum of recovery as the main sources of inbound passengers. During the first eight months this year, Zhangjiajie has handled 289,700 inbound trips, including 91,200 from Vietnam and 88,000 from South Korea. Zhangjiajie has taken the lead in inbound tourism resumption among the domestic tourism cities.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn