View of Kaohsiung, Taiwan Night scene of skyline photographed in 2009

Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu

Compare trains, coaches, flights and ferries from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu. From €124.63, fastest 5h 41m, with the total price and every fee shown up front.

Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu runs about 56 times a day, with the first departure around 06:05 and the last around 20:33. One passenger pays between €124.63 and €147.64, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 5h 41m over 1,674 km, on services run by 7 operators across 1 mode.

Checked 19 September 2026Priced for 6 October 2026One passenger, all fees included

What one seat costs

The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 7 operators and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.

Typical fares · Priced for 6 October 2026

€124.63 to €147.64

  • 229%Moves across the booking window

When it runs, leaving Kuala Lumpur

No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.

  • 06:05First departure
  • 20:33Last departure
  • 56Services per day
  • 100%Run direct

Fares by date

What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.

Typical fares

  1. about €336.44Sun20
  2. about €249.71Mon21
  3. about €240.86Tue22
  4. about €209.59Wed23
  5. about €263.28Thu24
  6. about €244.40Fri25
  7. about €249.71Sat26
  8. about €189.53Sun27
  9. about €162.98Mon28
  10. about €160.62Tue29
  11. about €169.47Wed30
  12. about €198.38Thu1
  13. about €190.71Fri2
  14. about €188.35Sat3
  15. about €147.05Sun4
  16. about €127.58Mon5
  17. about €124.63Tue6
  18. about €132.89Wed7
  19. about €165.34Thu8
  20. about €155.90Fri9
  21. about €157.08Sat10

Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.

The flight gets you into Kota Kinabalu. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.

A hotel room

A room in Kota Kinabalu for the night the flight gets in

Sort by distance from Putatan railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.

Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.

Booking window

When to book Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu

The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.

  1. €161.8090 days
  2. €108.7060 days
  3. €102.2145 days
  4. €111.6530 days
  5. €157.0821 days
  6. €188.3514 days
  7. €249.717 days
  8. €240.863 days
  9. €336.441 days
Cheapest lead time
Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €102.21.
How much it moves
The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 229 percent. The dearest point is €336.44, 1 days out.
What that means
Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
€336.44€102.21137142130456090

Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.

This corridor, specifically

Facts that apply to Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu and to no other route on the site.

Clocks

Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.

The shape of it

1,674 km

1,625 km as the crow flies, 3% further by the route services take. The bearing runs east.

Who lives at each end

1,453,975500,421

Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.

How we know

0/2

2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.

The route

Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKota KinabaluKota Kinabalu
The journey

What the journey looks like

Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.

How far it really runs
The route covers 1,674 km against 1,625 km in a straight line, a detour of 3 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.

The fare from BKI into Kota Kinabalu is the one price on this journey we cannot show you, because it is not ours.

A taxi rank outside an airport terminal

A car waiting when you land in Kota Kinabalu

Settled in advance, so the ride into Kota Kinabalu costs what it said it would rather than what the rank says.

Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.

Who runs this route

The flight gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.

Left luggage lockers

Left luggage near Putatan railway station

Most of the points near Putatan railway station open before the first train and shut after the last one.

Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.

Questions about Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu

The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.

How long does it take to get from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

The fastest journey from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu takes 5h 41m door to door, of which 2h 31m is spent moving, on the flight. Most services take around 5h 51m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.

How much does it cost to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

The cheapest fare from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu is €124.63, as of 19 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €220.80. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.

What is the cheapest way to get from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

The cheapest way from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu is by flight, at €124.63 for one passenger on 6 October 2026. That journey takes 5h 41m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.

When should I book Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

Fares from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €102.21. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 229 percent, measured on 19 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.

Which day of the week is cheapest for Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, at €160.62. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 19 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.

Which month is cheapest for Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, at €108.70 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.

Who runs services from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

No operator record names Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu directly. AirAsia, AirAsia X, Batik Air Malaysia, Firefly, Malaysia Airlines, MJets Air publish service areas covering both ends and may serve it, so we list them as possible operators rather than confirmed ones.

Is there a direct service from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

Every service we sell from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu is direct, with around 56 departures a day and a fastest journey of 5h 41m door to door. No connection is needed, so there is no missed connection risk to plan around on this corridor.

Which station or terminal do services from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu use?

Services from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu by flight leave from Kuala Lumpur KUL and arrive at Kota Kinabalu BKI. Allow about 3h 10m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.

Can I change or refund a ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu?

0 of the 7 operators we sell from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.

Where these numbers come from

Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.

Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.

Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.

Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances

On this page
Every figure above was computed for Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu on 19 September 2026: 1674 km of route against 1625 km in a straight line, 56 services a day, 7 operators a cheapest fare of €124.63, and 5h 41m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.

Being on the water gives Kota Kinabalu a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.

A guided tour group

Day trips out of Kota Kinabalu and across Malaysia

Day trips that leave Kota Kinabalu in the morning and cover a good part of Malaysia by evening.

Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.

The two ends, compared

Kuala Lumpur reaches 143 places in 42 countries on services we hold, over distances from 47 to 10,545 km. Kota Kinabalu reaches 29 places in 11 countries, from 174 to 4,091 km.

Other ways to make this journey

Leaving Kuala Lumpur

  • 143Places you can leave for
  • 42Countries
  • 72Operators

Arriving in Kota Kinabalu

Leaving Kota Kinabalu

  • 29Places you can leave for
  • 11Countries
  • 21Operators

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