Kelabit Highlands by plane · Kelabit Highlands by plane
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Kelabit Highlands by plane
Kelabit Highlands by plane
The most popular and simplest way of getting into the Kelabit Highlands is by plane. The highlands are dotted with little airfields, often just grass airstrips other than the main airport at Bario which is a modern tar-mac runway, these are linked by 16-seater Twin Otter planes operated by MASWings since taking over from Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) on October 1, 2007. These are 18 seater flights and locals are given preference due to it being the main transport in and out of the highlands but you can now book online at . Note that there are sometimes problems with non-Malaysian credit cards booking on this site; best to contact your card issuer in case of problems. There are still some cancellations of flights due to bad weather but it is a fallacy that this is regular. The transition period from FAX to MASwings saw cancellation due to MAS having much stricter regulations on safety and servicing. There is talk of lengthening the runway in the future for the larger planes.
The most popular entry points are Bario (BBN) and Ba Kelalan (BKM). There are also air services to Long Akah (LKH), Long Banga (LBP), Long Lellang (LGL) and Long Seridan (ODN) although these other locations do not have any purpose-built infrastructure for travellers.
The main coastal city that acts as the gateway to the highlands is Miri where most flights originate. However, there are also flights from Lawas and Marudi in the Lower Baram, which is connected to Miri by several flights daily as well as a combination of boat (between Marudi and Kuala Baram) and bus (between Kuala Baram and Miri).
To/From Bario: 2 daily flights to and from Miri, except for Mondays when 1 flight only carries cargo. Flights are often marked as full though actually they leave half empty - the rest of the weight is taken up by pre booked cargo. You should book ahead; they are normally full about five days ahead of time. Flights back from Bario have no cargo, and so you shouldn't need to book too far ahead; you could even do this once you have arrived. If you have a pre booked flight you should reconfirm it when you arrive; there's a RM10 charge for this. Tickets cost RM70 before taxes and surcharges. Journey time is about 50 minutes. Six of these weekly flights (no flights on Thursday) are via Marudi.
To/from Ba Kelalan: Flights between Lawas and Ba Kelalan run on Monday and Saturday. RM46 one-way before taxes and surcharges. Flights take about 35 minutes.
To/from other villages: Flights operate between Miri and Marudi and the various "Longhouses" in the highlands once or twice a week.
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Kelabit Highlands Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.