THE Sarawak government is in the process of conducting due diligence on MASwings Sdn Bhd and negotiating with Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) and Khazanah Nasional Berhad to acquire shares in MASwings.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Dr. Jerip Susil said the takeover will be in stages and the operation of the Sarawak airline will only commence once the whole takeover process is finalised.
On Oct 27, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) involving three parties — the Sarawak government, Hornbill Skyways Sdn Bhd and Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) was signed.
Dr. Jerip was replying to Batu Kitang assemblyman Datuk Lo Khere Chiang (GPS-Batu Kitang), on the latest status of the Sarawak airline during Q&A session in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) today.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jerip said under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015 (Act 771) a total of 40 routes were approved as Rural Air Services (RAS) routes — 30 internal routes for Sarawak, six (internal routes) for Sabah and four interstate routes for Sarawak and Sabah.
“The federal government has given its assurance to continue its RAS subsidy and the acquisition of RAS by the Sarawak government will not affect the rural air services on all existing RAS routes as stipulated in the RAS agreement,” he added.
