PART AND PARCEL: Nawawi (left) and Minister of Housing and Tourism Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg during the MASwings launch. Nawawi says expanding to the BIMP-EAGA region is part and parcel of positioning the company.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: MASwings Sdn Bhd (MASwings), a wholly own subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), is expected to further increase its routes and fleet into the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) if the ‘take off’ in Brunei shows positive results.
MASwings had on Wednesday, successfully completed its maiden flight to Bandar Seri Begawan, departing from Kuching International Airport and Kota Kinabalu International Airport, respectively. The new routes were part of its expansion plan via the BIMP-EAGA platform.
“This is our first step beyond our national duties as to not only provide inter-connectivity in both Sabah and Sarawak, but also taking full advantage of the potential market within the regions,” said its chief executive officer Datuk Captain Mohd Nawawi Awang during the press conference held at the Royal Brunei Airport.
With the introduction of this new service, MASwings would operate twice daily between Brunei and Kota Kinabalu and thrice weekly between Brunei and Kuching providing a total capacity of 680 seats in each direction for Kota Kinabalu and 204 seats in each direction for Kuching.
By mid-February, the regional airline would be spreading its ‘wings’ to Indonesia, creating new routes from Kuching/Kota Kinabalu to Pontianak and Tarakan. “Depending on the traffic, we might then extend beyond the border, to the Philippines – an area that we can cover,” said Nawawi.
He further pointed out that MASwings had limitation in terms of aircraft types, which allowed it to fly only to certain destinations within the two hour time frame. The regional airline currently owns 10 units of ATR72-500s and four HDC-6 Twin Otters.
“Within the next six months or year-end, if the demand is good, we will proceed and explore the rest of the destinations such as Balikpapan in Indonesia and Davao in the Philippines. Meanwhile, for flights beyond the two hours time frame, we will eye a regional jet aircraft such as 737 or A320, if we manage to pull this off successfully,” he stressed.
The other foreign designated points that MASwings were allowed to fly to were Manado in Indonesia as well as General Santos, Puerto Princesa and Zamboanga in the Philippines.
According to Nawawi, MASwings Rural Air Services’ (RAS) contract in Sabah and Sarawak would expire in 2017, so expanding to the BIMP-EAGA region was part and parcel of positioning the company in the event that the contract was not renewed.
“If the government continues the RAS contract, it would be a bonus for us, but if not, we can go on ourselves,” he said, adding that MASwings would operate the new routes for one year and its further expansion would depend on how successful the venture was.
When asked how much was the investment worth, he said, “The expansion into BIMP-EAGA is totally our commercial entity for MASwings.
“We are doing it on our own unlike the RAS where it has assistance from the government. The expansion will be on our own profit and loss account – it’s two different accounts all together.”
“I am confident that there is a huge potential for stronger relations between the sub-regions in term of trade, tourism and cultural exchange. Economically, socially and culturally, aviation has been crucial important in meeting the nees of tourism, trade and industry,” he highlighted.
Regional cooperation and economic integration was no longer a matter of choice but a necessity and we must pursue economic integration at the sub-region level, he added.
MASwings has also recently undergone its fleet renewal programme where it replaced the ageing Fokker 50 aircraft with the state-of-the-art ATR75-500 series aircraft. Nawawi pointed out that ATR was an environmentally friendly aircraft with less carbon emission and noice reduction.
The ATR is also configured to 68 seats in order to allow for more leg room and aisle space than any other similar category aircraft operation.
Since its inception in 2007, MASwings had marked an increase of passengers from 45,000 per month in 2007 to 130,000 per month this year, representing a three-fold increase or equivalent to a 300-per cent hike. It currently operates more than 950 flights per week.