The idea would focus on not only the East Asean Growth Area of Brunei, Indonesian, Malaysia and the Philippines, but also possible routes connnecting Sarawak to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Bali and even Australia. While this suggestion might seem a bit grand, it does show that there is strong belief in the country’s ability to build successful airlines. For a relatively small country, Malaysia’s two major airlines, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, together connects the country to many destinations around the world. AirAsia in particular, has excelled in making air travel affordable for the average Malaysian, albeit at the cost of some luxuries.

A MASWings airplane at Kuching Airport

Do you think that there is enough room left for a third major airline to succeed in Malaysia?

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Sarawak wants the federal government to explore the possibility of turning MASWings into a regional airline not only for the rural air services in Sarawak and Sabah but also within the BIMP-EAGA region and beyond following the collaboration between Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia.

State Tourism and Heritage Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, said an alternative regional connectivity would fill the vacuum left by MAS’ unit, Firefly, which was expected to cancel all its current flights to Sarawak with the proposed air rationalisation exercise.

“The Sarawak government is ready, through my ministry, to try its best to position the tools that can enhance the tourism industry’s growth because we want do not want to be left behind,” he said at the MAS/MASWings Hari Raya open house here Wednesday.

Abang Johari said MASWings, whose rural air operations in Sabah and Sarawak were being subsidised by the government until its contract ceased in 2017, could take up the challenge to become a competitor to other airlines.

“Apart from the East Asean Growth Area of Brunei, Indonesian, Malaysia and the Philippines, it could also look at possible routes connnecting Sarawak to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Bali and even Australia,” he said.

Currently, MASWings operates with a fleet of 10 ATR aircraft and four Twin Otters.

Source: Bernama

Photo (c) calflier001

MASwings

Since taking over the Rural Air Service (RAS) in the two states on an exclusive basis in October 2007, it has been flying progessively increasing numbers.

“As of February this year, we flew one million passengers after just 17 months of operation.

“We are now flying more than 70,000 passengers a month compared to between 40,000 to 50,000 previously,” MASwings managing director Mohd Salleh Ahmad Tabrani told a briefing here Monday.

He said in the last six months, MASwings had registered a 24 percent passenger growth, a figure he said, was “quite amazing”.

“Despite the economic problems, there is still a very strong appetite for air travel in Sabah and Sarawak,”he said.

He said MASwings had also achieved significant revenue from handling seven customer foreign airlines like Royal Brunei, Cathay Pacific, Korean Airlines and Japan Airlines at the Kota Kinabalu and Kuching international airports.

“We are ploughing this revenue back in subsidising our less profitable routes,” he explained.

MASwings now operates 800 flights a week or 41,600 annually. Its network covers some 22 destinations, of which 16 are in Sarawak, with four in Sabah and one in Labuan.

In Sarawak, MASwings serves Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang besides smaller airports like Mukah, Tanjung Manis, Bario, Lawas, Long Akah, Long Seridan, Long Lellang, Mulu, Ba’kelalan, Marudi and Longa Banga,” he said.

In Sabah, the destinations are Kota Kinablau, Lahad Datu, Tawau, Sandakan and Labuan itself.

MASwings current fleet consists of 15 turboprop aircrafts serving 26 routes in Sarawak, four in Sabah and eight between Sabah and Sarawak.

“We are undertaking a major fleet renewal programme.We have five ATR 72-500 aircrafts, six Fokker 50 and four Twin Otters.We made a major investment of RM700 million to acquire the ATR.

“We will be adding another five ATR to the ones we already have by April next year.

By then we will be ready to phase out the Fokker 50,” Mohd Salleh said.

He also disclosed that at the same time, MASwings hoped to add another Twin Otter and with that, more new interiors routes in the two states could be considered.

On passenger volume for last year, he said MASwings had carried 105,292 travellers on its Twin Otters and 643,693 on its Fokker 50 and ATR to enjoy a 62 per cent load factor.

Source: Bernama