Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur-Xining-Kuala Lumpur international direct flight successfully made its maiden flight

China News Service, Xining, September 6th (Li Jun) The Malaysian Kuala Lumpur-Xining-Kuala Lumpur round-trip international direct flight successfully completed its maiden flight on the evening of September 5th. This flight was Qinghai’s first wide-body international flight and arrived in Qinghai fully loaded with 299 overseas tourists.

On the evening of September 5, Malaysia Airlines flight MH8856 landed smoothly at Xining Caojiabao International Airport. Photo by Liu Wenqi

Malaysia is Qinghai Province’s core overseas tourist source market and has been the province’s largest source of inbound tourists for many years. In 2025, the number of inbound tourists will reach 14,365. The demand for inbound tourism is strong and the market potential is huge.

Shao Jun, a second-level inspector of the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce, said that the launch of this flight has built a more convenient air bridge between Xining and Kuala Lumpur, greatly shortened the time and space distance between the two places, and effectively promoted exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, culture, tourism and other areas between the two places.

It is reported that the smooth maiden flight of the route marks the official completion of the international air channel from Qinghai to Southeast Asia, completely filling the province's shortcomings in direct flights to ASEAN, effectively solving the problem of transit loss of tourists from Southeast Asia to Qinghai, and providing air hub support for the province to deepen its opening to the outside world and strengthen its inbound cultural tourism industry.

At present, Xining Air Port has opened two international (regional) routes to Hong Kong and Bangkok. Among them, the Xining-Hong Kong flight has been increased from one flight per week to two flights per week since September.

Statistics from the Qinghai Provincial Department of Commerce show that from January to August 2026, the province had 116 inbound and outbound international flights and 15,615 inbound and outbound personnel.

At the same time, relying on existing international routes, Qinghai Province uses belly hold cargo to develop international freight business. From January to August this year, it continued to expand the export scale of specialty products mainly salmon, with international freight volume reaching 438 tons, a year-on-year increase of 393%. (over)