Premier ‘amazed’ by latest tech on aircraft running on S’wak-produced bio-jet fuel

Abang Johari delivering his keynote address at the 5th Malaysian Banking and Finance Summit at Kuala Lumpur International Hotel on May 23, 2023. Screenshot taken from an Ukas Facebook livestream.

By Yee Mei

KUCHING, May 23: Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has expressed his amazement over the technology that today’s aircraft possess.

He elaborated that when he flew from Kuching to Langkawi yesterday (May 22) using an Aircraft A220-300, which was running on Sarawak-produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), he asked the captain if he could be in the cockpit to observe how it was operated.

“I was amazed to see the latest generation of this Airbus. The aircraft was only three-weeks-old, and I asked the captain to be in the cockpit as I wanted to see it. The first that we usually see in the cockpit is the thing that the pilot pushes (control mechanisms), but in this aircraft it is all buttons.

“All they do (when about to take off) is twist the button to the required length. So with that, the aircraft just took off, and the pilot just sat there—I was amazed at the technology,” he said.

He said this in his keynote address today at the 5th Malaysian Banking and Finance Summit at Kuala Lumpur International Hotel.

Abang Johari then said he asked the captain what would happen if the system was not working, to which he was assured that there was a backup system in place.

“This is what technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is all about, and I’m sure the banking system has to adopt this AI for their operations,” he said.

Sarawak’s own SAF, which is produced from locally grown algae, marked a milestone success for Sarawak in becoming a supplier of SAF for the aviation sector, with Abang Johari even saying that Sarawak may no longer need to look for oil offshore or onshore. — DayakDaily