Penang-Guiyang direct flight route opens

On Oct 13, Malindo Air's OD602 flight, departing from Penang, Malaysia, landed at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, marking the opening of the Guiyang-Penang tourist route.

Malaysian tourists visit Guiyang via the Penang-Guiyang direct flight. [Photo/WeChat account of Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office]

The inaugural flight carried 169 Malaysian tourists and embarked on an eight-day journey to "Colorful Guizhou". This trip covers representative natural and cultural landscapes of Guizhou, including Huangguoshu Waterfall, One-Thousand-Household Miao Village of Xijiang, and Wanfenglin scenic area, showcasing the unique charm of the province to inbound tourists.

The opening of this route has further strengthened the "air bridge" between Guizhou and Southeast Asia, injecting new impetus into cultural exchanges and tourism cooperation between the two regions.

The airport now boasts 13 international and regional routes. With the opening of this newest direct flight, travel time between Penang and Guiyang has been reduced from 10 hours to four hours and 20 minutes, greatly improving travel convenience.

The flight schedule for this route is once a week, with a total of 12 flights in the first phase, lasting until Dec 28. The Penang-Guiyang OD602 flight departs at 8:10 pm and arrives at 12:30 am. The Guiyang-Penang OD603 flight departs at 1:30 am and arrives at 5:50 am local time.

"The direct flight makes visiting Guizhou more convenient than ever," said Malaysian traveler surnamed Chua. "We've always heard about the beauty of Huangguoshu Waterfall and One-Thousand-Household Miao Village of Xijiang, but the trip used to be too complicated. Now that there's a direct flight, we signed up without hesitation. We're really looking forward to this journey."

Zhou Houneng, president of the Guizhou Travel Agency Association for Inbound Tourism, said that the occupancy rate of inbound tourists on this route has exceeded 75 percent and is showing continuous growth.