Travel: Flights to Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu International Airport (IATA code BKI, but also abbreviated KKIA) is the main gateway to Sabah. In addition to frequent domestic services from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and various points on Malaysian Borneo on AirAsia, Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) and Malaysia Airlines, internationally you can fly direct from Manila (Clark) ; from Bangkok with Thai AirAsia; from Singapore with Silkair; from Hong Kong with Dragonair; from Brunei with Royal Brunei Airlines; from Taipei with Far Eastern Air Transport; from Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Manila on Malaysia Airlines, and other cities, too.

The airport is 7 km away from the city. Try and find the bus stop, which is not at the airport itself but down on the main road, or take a taxi (coupon available, 15 minutes).

The going rate for a taxi ride from the airport to the city is around RM20 (as of October 2006).

Caution: there are ATMs and a currency exchange in Terminal 1 of the airport but if you're arriving late it'll almost certainly be closed and the ATMs are not always working, so make sure you've got some Malaysian ringgit before you arrive as you'll need it for the taxi or the bus. There are no ATMs or currency exchange kiosks in Terminal 2 at all. Bizarre for an international airport, but there you have it. If you find yourself having just arrived and without any ringgit, you can have a taxi take you to an ATM on the way to wherever you're staying.