George Town to Kota Kinabalu runs about 12 times a day, with the first departure around 06:04 and the last around 18:43. One passenger pays between €145.28 and €160.03, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 5h 50m over 1,795 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 2 operators and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares · Priced for October 5, 2026
€145.28 to €160.03
- 246%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving George Town
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.
- 06:04First departure
- 18:43Last departure
- 12Services per day
- 67%Run direct
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €380.69Sat19
- about €324.05Sun20
- about €264.46Mon21
- about €227.29Tue22
- about €224.93Wed23
- about €288.65Thu24
- about €275.67Fri25
- about €237.91Sat26
- about €210.77Sun27
- about €177.73Mon28
- about €180.09Tue29
- about €190.12Wed30
- about €210.18Thu1
- about €203.69Fri2
- about €181.86Sat3
- about €180.68Sun4
- about €145.28Mon5
- about €162.39Tue6
- about €146.46Wed7
- about €176.55Thu8
- about €171.24Fri9
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 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.
Search Kota Kinabalu on AgodaOr compare on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book George Town to Kota Kinabalu
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €183.0490 days
- €109.8860 days
- €130.5345 days
- €147.6430 days
- €171.2421 days
- €203.6914 days
- €275.677 days
- €264.463 days
- €380.691 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €109.88.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 246 percent. The most expensive point is €380.69, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 60 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to George Town 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
1,795 km
1,742 km as the crow flies, 3% further by the route services take. The bearing runs east.
Who lives at each end
158,336 → 500,421
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
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 67% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 33% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 1,795 km against 1,742 km in a straight line, a detour of 3 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Kota Bharu, Miri, Kuala Lumpur, Kampung Baru Subang. The gap between arriving and leaving is 51 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 18 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
The fare from BKI into Kota Kinabalu is the one price on this trip we cannot show you, because it is not ours.
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 cab stand says.
Book a ride from BKI with Daytrip
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.
Baggage storage near Putatan railway station
Most of the points near Putatan railway station open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Kota Kinabalu on StasherOr try Bounce
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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu
The questions people actually ask about this trip, 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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
The fastest journey from George Town to Kota Kinabalu takes 5h 50m door to door, of which 2h 40m is spent moving, on the flight. Most services take around 6h 1m, 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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
The cheapest fare from George Town to Kota Kinabalu is €145.28, as of September 18, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €236.73. 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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
The cheapest way from George Town to Kota Kinabalu is by flight, at €145.28 for one passenger on October 5, 2026. That journey takes 5h 50m 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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
Fares from George Town to Kota Kinabalu bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €109.88. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 246 percent, measured on September 18, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from George Town to Kota Kinabalu, at €177.73. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 18, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from George Town to Kota Kinabalu, at €116.96 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 service from George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
No operator record names George Town to Kota Kinabalu directly. AirAsia, Firefly 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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
67 percent of the services we sell from George Town to Kota Kinabalu are direct. The rest connect at Kota Bharu, Miri, Kuala Lumpur, Kampung Baru Subang, with about 51 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from George Town to Kota Kinabalu use?
Services from George Town to Kota Kinabalu by flight leave from George Town PEN 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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu?
0 of the 2 operators we sell from George Town 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 George Town to Kota Kinabalu on September 18, 2026: 1795 km of route against 1742 km in a straight line, 12 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €145.28, and 5h 50m 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.
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.
See Kota Kinabalu on KlookOr browse GetYourGuide
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
George Town reaches 35 places in 12 countries on services we hold, over distances from 43 to 5,639 km. Kota Kinabalu reaches 29 places in 11 countries, from 174 to 4,091 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving George Town
- 35Places you can leave for
- 12Countries
- 23Operators
Arriving in Kota Kinabalu
Leaving Kota Kinabalu
- 29Places you can leave for
- 11Countries
- 21Operators