Sandakan Flights

We flew to Sandakan in the morning but miss our Airasia flight so we end up paying full fair on Malaysia airlines. On our return to Kuala Lumpur we took Airasia and were late for our flight but luckily we only have hand luggage so they allow us to board the plane.

I guess we were so excited in enjoying Sandakan town that we almost miss our flight. We did not have lunch so end up having some snacks on the aircraft.

Although Sandakan is only a few hundred kilometres away from Kota Kinabalu, it's a long trip to get there by car, if not by bus. The fastest way to get to Sabah's eastcoast is to catch the airplane in Kota Kinabalu and fly to Sandakan. That will only cost you 45 minutes, and will provide you a great view of the island.

The connection between the two largest cities of the state is taken care of by Malaysia Airlines. The flight is by not as luxurious as the intercontinental ones, but still the Boeing 737 looks ok. During the flight you have some stunning views of Mount Kinabalu and the landscape with countless big and small rivers.

The Airport in Sandakan is very simple, so on your way back, don't check in too early because you will be very bored, but connection-wise it's a perfect solution. From the airport you will find enough taxis to bring you anywhere you want.

Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia both fly to Sandakan from Kota Kinnabalu.
There is also a bus that does this route.
If you are staying at Kota Kinabalu and want just a daytrip to Sandakan, you can take the early flight MH2042 which is takes off at Kota Kinabalu Airport 7.00am and arriving Sandakan Airport at 7.40am. Transport can be arranged to pick up at Sandakan Airport and transfer to the Proboscis Sanctuary to view the morning feeding session. (11.30am to 12.30noon). You still got the time to travel to Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary. which is only 24KM away to view the feeding of Orang Utan at 2.30pm.

The easiest way to fly to Sandakan straight is by AirAsia. The Malaysian premier budget airline, it is slightly the same as Easyjet in the UK. Journey to Sandakan from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport will takes about 1 hour 50 minutes.

Airasia is one of the first budget airline introduce ticketless system. All you have to do is book the airticket through the website and check-in with your passport and reference number. The only you should expect is that, refreshment is not included in the price.

There are numerous number of domestic flights from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan everyday. The flight takes about 40min and the cost is about $100RM.

Another alternative is to take long distance bus from city centre of Kota Kinabalu. It takes about 7 hours of travelling through the mountains. The cost is about $20RM.

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Regular flights from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu by Air Asia. MAS also flies from Kota Kinabalu.

If you arrive in Sandakan by plane and you don't have any transportation there, a taxi is a perfect way to get around. Don't expect an high class car with airconditioning and leather seats. Instead the only airconditioning in one taxi I took were the windows that were opened and couldn't close anymore. And the car sounded like it was driving its last trip ever.

But if you don't mind all that it's a great way to get around. Just make sure you agreed on a price before you go. And if you want to go to Sepilok by taxi it is very normal to ask the taxidriver to wait for you, even if it's two hours of waiting. He will ask you for a little fee for his waiting time, but that really isn't that much.

If you need to rent a car to go around Sandakan, I will recommend : BM Rent A Car. You can pick up from Airport or Hotel in town. They have Proton car from price RM 100~250. Please call En. Annuar for more info.
I am quite happy to drive around in Sandakan and just drive back to airport & catch my flight.