Labuan Airport, ferry terminals to be swamped during Christmas, year-end holidays

LABUAN, Dec 13 -- Labuan Airport and ferry terminals are about to be swamped during the upcoming Christmas and year-end school holidays.

Thousands of local travellers are expected to be travelling from Labuan to Menumbok, Kota Kinabalu, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia during this holiday season, a large change from previous ‘pandemic’ years.

Labuan has two ferry terminals to the Sabah mainland with four ferries operating [Kimanis 1, Goodwill Star, Putrajaya 1 and Galaxy] to carry vehicles and passengers daily.

Another terminal is Labuan International Ferry Terminal to carry passengers directly to Jesselton Point terminal in Kota Kinabalu (only one trip during weekends) and to Menumbok (nine trips) and Sipitang (two trips) in Sabah; and to Lawas (one trip) and Limbang (one trip) in Sarawak.

As the majority of people travelling to the Sabah mainland are doing so by vehicle (via ro-ro ferry), road trips along Menumbok to Kota Kinabalu road are also expected to reign supreme this coming holiday.

Nevertheless, Labuan Ferry Terminal ticketing agent company - Labuan Point Enterprise Sdn Bhd manager Robert Ling Song Thieng said they were bracing for a surge of travellers ahead of the holidays.

“We are ready…we will be able to handle the increase in passenger volumes that we anticipate seeing,” he told Bernama today.

Robert said since Nov 1, the ro-ro ferry services had been operating a normal schedule or having six trips (Labuan - Menumbok - Labuan) daily and the trips were approved by the Labuan Marine Department.

“The rising COVID-19 vaccination rates have made people more confident about travel, leading to a surge in bookings,” he said.

In fact, he said ferry tickets from Labuan to Menumbok for trips until Dec 31 had been sold out online, but travellers may still try their luck at the ticketing counter.

Meanwhile, Labuan Airport spokesman said flight frequency from Labuan to Miri and Kota Kinabalu had returned to normal of three trips daily, while to Kuala Lumpur two trips daily beginning this month.

He said this could be a sign that air travel levels are returning to normal and it is hopeful the upward trajectory would continue.

-- BERNAMA