Kota Bharu's small but new and efficient Sultan Ismail Petra Airport (KBR) in Pengkalan Chepa currently receives flights from Kuala Lumpur provided by Malaysia Airlines and budget carrier AirAsia. Advance bookings especially for AirAsia can be very cheap (with best promotional fares you can end up flying cheaper than going by bus, if you have no check-in luggage).
Firefly , offers seven direct flights between Kota Bharu and Kuala Lumpur via Subang Airport and daily flight to Penang. It's also the first airline to connect Kota Bharu to the southern city of Johor Bahru. Prior to this, most people would make the trip by car or a 10-hour bus journey.
Recently, Firefly has also started flying from Kota Bharu directly into Singapore. The inaugural flight was scheduled for 10 August 2012.
Getting to/away: The airport is 20 minutes from the city centre by taxi (fare is RM40 as of January 2012). You can also catch a City-Liner bus No. 9 from the local bus station in the city centre (1.80RM, hourly, from 7AM to 7PM, duration c. 20 minutes).
By train
The nearest railway station to Kota Bharu is at Wakaf Bharu, some 6.5 kilometers away from the city center. You can catch public bus No 19, 27 or 43 (Fare RM 1.50, runs from 7.00AM to 7.00PM) from Kota Bharu Central Bus Terminal to get there or just ask your hotel/guesthouse to arrange a taxi for you (RM35-40, @ Feb 2011). The official taxis at the station have a rate sheet.
Trains run on the Jungle Railway to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. One attraction is the Jungle Train with its Shuttle train service that does stop at almost every station between Tumpat and Gemas, allowing you to enjoy close-up contact with local people as the train travels through the heart of Peninsular Malaysia. The name "Jungle Train" is a misnomer: there is little if any jungle along the route. This is because the jungle has been replaced by palm trees - thousands of them
