In November 2023, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) awarded Malaysia Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary Firefly air traffic rights to operate four weekly flights between Kota Kinabalu and Tokyo Narita. Earlier this month, MAVCOM announced it cancelled those rights due to Firefly’s failure to launch the service within six months of having the rights granted.
Separately from Firefly, Batik Air was also granted rights to operate the route four times a week in April 2024. The airline has, however, not announced any specific plans about launching flights between the two cities yet.
While Malaysia Airlines used to offer non-stop flights between the two cities until May 2023, it returned the related air traffic rights on May 31, 2023. It later had plans to restart the route, however, those have not materialized.
As such, Kuala Lumpur remains the only Malaysian airport to offer non-stop flights to Japan.
