Air
The national flag carrier is Malaysia
Airlines (MH). It is the southeast Asia’s biggest airline
and flies to over 110 cities across six continents. More details
can be obtained from the London office of Malaysia Airlines (telephone:
(0870) 607 9090). Thai International, Singapore Airlines, and Royal
Brunei operate flights to certain Malaysian destinations.
Approximate flight times
Kuala Lumpur to London is about 14 hours.
International
airports
Kuala
Lumpur International Airport (KUL) (Sepang) is 55 kilometres (34 miles)
south of the capital and near Putra Jaya, Malaysia’s future
administrative capital. It handles 25 million passengers per annual
and receives all main international airlines.
Kuala Lumpur’s city centre can be reached via the Kuala Lumpur–Seremban
Highway/KLIA interchange and the Shah Alam/North–South Central
Link Expressway. Journey time is roughly 45 minutes. Taxis
must be pre-paid in the Arrivals Area at the airport and travel
time is 40 minutes. KL City Buses operate 24-hour
Express Bus Service to the Airport Bus Terminal, Hentian Duta, Kuala
Lumpur city centre, departing every 15 minutes (luxury coach) or
every hour (semi-luxury coach). The trip takes approximately 1 hour.
Regular buses run from Hentian Duta to Lot 10 on Jalan Sultan
Ismail in the city centre between 8.00 am and 0.30 am and travel time
is about 30 minutes.
The cheapest mean to reach the city is by train and bus. The
Stage Bus Service operates from 7.15 am - 10.30 pm and departs from
the airport every 30 minutes for Nilai KTM Station
with travel time of about 30 minutes. The trains from Nilai operate from 6.44 am - 10.44 pm every 20-30 minutes to
Kuala Lumpur Railway Station
and travel time is about 1 hour. The Express Rail Link (ERL)
travels between Kuala Lumpur (KL Sentral) and the major airport terminal
at a speed of 100 miles per hour or 160 kilometres per hour and journey time is about 30
minutes.
Airport facilities include ATM, bureaux
de change, duty-free, postal services,
shopping, restaurants, hotel reservations, tourist counters, medical services, left-luggage,
prayer rooms and car hire (Budget and Hertz). Business facilities
are business
centres (with telephone, fax, Internet, teleconferencing, postal
and secretarial services), executive lounges and limousine services to the city centre.
Penang (PEN)
(Bayan Lepas) is 16 kilometres (10 miles) south of Georgetown, the capital
of this small island off the northwest coast. Flight connections
from the UK via Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok are available.
Airport facilities include restaurants and bars, incoming
and outgoing duty-free shop, bank/bureau de change and car hire.
Kota Kinabalu (BKI) is on the northern coast of Sabah state or the northeastern part of Borneo
Island, 6.5 kilometres (4 miles) from the city.
It is the international gateway to Sarawak and
Sabah which is served all the international flights from all over the world.
Flight connections from the UK go via Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala
Lumpur.
Airport facilities include restaurant, bar, and bank/bureau
de change facilities.
Kuching (KCH) is located
in the west of Sarawak on the island of Borneo, 11 kilometres (7 miles) from the city. It has
a limited number of international flights.
Departure
tax
RM45.00 is levied for international
departures.
Sea
Georgetown (for Penang), Port Kelang (for Kuala
Lumpur) and, in East Malaysia (for Sabah and Sarawak), Bintulu,
Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Lahad Datu, Rejang, Sandakan and Tawau are the main ports in Malaysia.
Shipping lines with passenger services to Malaysia are Blue Funnel, P&O
and Straits Shipping. Cargo and passenger lines include
Austasia, Knutsen, Lykes, Neptune Orient, Orient Overseas and Straits
Shipping. Star Cruises from Singapore organises luxury cruises departing
from Port Kelang. Coral Princess
and Gemini also the lines offering cruises. Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean and Seabourn
Cruise Lines call at Malaysia.
Rail
Through services run every day to and from Singapore via Kuala Lumpur and
between Butterworth and Bangkok (Thailand). From the Eastern and Oriental Express, a 41-hour
round trip is available. A comfortable
train modelled on the famous Orient Express that leaves Singapore
for journeys through Malay's capital and heads north
towards
Bangkok from
where it returns to Singapore.
Road
Peninsular Malaysia is linked by 2
causeways to Singapore and by good roads to Thailand. Toll fees are collected on every highway
throughout the country. Road connections between Sarawak and Sabah (the 2 eastern states) and their neighbours on Borneo, Brunei and the
Indonesian state of Kalimantan are quite good. |
