Asia's most loved country launches 27 international flight routes for tourism boost

By Hoang Phong April 1, 2025 | 11:29 pm PT

A traveler at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia. Photo by AFP

Malaysia, voted Asia's most loved country, has announced plans to introduce 27 new international flight routes this year as part of its efforts to spur tourism.

As of the end of March, 12 of these routes have already commenced operations, adding more than 100 flights to Malaysia, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, said as quoted by The Star.

"This is part of the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VM2026) strategy which focuses on direct connections to more cities in China to attract more tourists," Tiong said.

The minister also mentioned that most of the new routes connect to China, one of Malaysia’s largest tourism markets, Dayak Daily reported.

Malaysia received 38 million visitor arrivals in 2024, including 13 million excursionists, marking a 31.1% year-on-year increase and an 8.3% rise compared to pre-Covid in 2019.

Malaysia was named Asia's "most loved" country in 2024 by American finance website Insider Monkey.

Other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam recently also expanded international routes to attract foreign visitors.