BY SARAH HAFIZAH CHANDRA & AWANG MUHAMMAD SYAHMI
KUCHING: The state government has agreed in principle to take over MASwings in its plan to establish the region’s own boutique airline.
This was revealed by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg who said this is being planned following a proposal from the federal government.
“We have agreed in principle and now we have to do our due diligence. This is the latest development on establishing Sarawak’s boutique airline,” he told reporters at Raia Hotel and Convention Centre here today.
Abang Johari said the state government will need to look into the need for MASwings to expand its routes beyond Borneo.
He said the regional community airline for Sabah and Sarawak currently does not operate flights to Kuala Lumpur.
MASwings is a subsidiary of Malaysia Aviation Group, it is a regional airline serving Sarawak and Sabah, focusing mainly on rural air services in both states since 2007.
“We want to cover the regional destinations, we want to fly to Kuala Lumpur as well as Singapore. The main objective is to offer moderate airfares, particularly within Malaysia,” he said.
When asked if the state government will rename the airline or stick with the MASwings name, Abang Johari said this will be considered after the acquisition process has been completed.
For the record, the Sarawak and Sabah governments had expressed interest in acquiring equity in MASwings back in 2012.
Both state governments revived their interests in the plan in 2015 with the intention of turning MASwings into a regional airline serving ASEAN and East Asian countries.
However, Sarawak dropped its interest in taking over MASwings due to difficulties in negotiations with its parent company.
“The name is secondary, what is important is to have our own outfit where we hope to provide affordable airfares,” he said.
Abang Johari said the boutique airline will also use the Sarawak made algae-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
He also said the state government intends to increase the production of SAF.
“There is potential to increase algae production from 1,000 acres which can produce about 10,000 barrels of SAF per day to 10,000 acres which can yield 100,000 barrels per day if successful.
“We are quite advanced in the region on biofuel based on algae as opposed to biomass. We have the technology now, and will embark on producing the biofuel,” he said.
