KUCHING, March 29: Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), Firefly and MASWings are increasing the number of flights to and from Sarawak for the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations and school holiday season.
According to a media release issued by Ministry of Transport Sarawak (MOTS), the announcement was made during a meeting between the ministry led by Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin and the delegation from Malaysia Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) and Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) on Monday (March 27).
MAB chief executive officer for Airline Business Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi said MAB would have 14 additional flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching from April 20 to May 7, and one additional flight from Kota Kinabalu to Kuching on April 20.
Meanwhile, effective May 16, Firefly would have a flight daily for Kota Kinabalu to Kuching, Kuching to Kota Kinabalu, Miri to Kuching, and Kuching to Miri routes.
On the other hand, MASWings have launched a new direct flight two times weekly from Miri to Long Banga on March 26.
They have also mounted extra flights into Limbang from Kuching during this Hari Raya celebrations starting from April 18 to April 26, and Gawai Dayak starting from May 28 to June 4.
During the same meeting, MASWings Area Manager Chali Awang also gave a briefing on their rural air services (RAS) and on the proposed long-term plan network ‘Hybrid Flexi 3.0’ for RAS in Sarawak.
Following this, Lee highlighted flight fares issues for RAS within Sarawak, citing a complaint received by the ministry on a Miri-Mukah-Kuching flight costing above RM1,000.
He also advised the MASWings to propose a new schedule and the frequencies for Miri-Mulu flights due to the unique weather conditions which limits operation hours for flights.
Also present during the meeting were MOTS permanent secretary Dato Alice Jawan, Head of Aviation Zulkarnain Rosli, Aviation Technical Advisor Sio Yew Hua, MAVCOM director of Aviation Development Jaffar Derus Ahmad, MAVCOM RAS coordinator Karen Leiking, MASWings chief operations officer Suresh Singam, MAG senior manager Nita Malek, and Firefly chief operations officer Hamdan Che Ismail. — DayakDaily
