KUCHING: A proposal has been made for Hornbill Skyways to fly routes that MASwings will cease operating next year.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar James Masing said maintaining the routes is necessary for connectivity.
“From next year MASwings will cease operations for three routes in Sarawak (Kuching- Miri, Kuching-Kota Kinabalu, Kuching-Sibu) so that should be replaced by another airline.
“So we are looking at it and at first we thought AirAsia will be the best because they are flying everywhere. However, if AirAsia is not very keen, I’ll suggest that we have our own airline (Hornbill Skyways) to take over. So let them take over and the one who takes over will be subsidised by the government as we are subsidising MASwings,” Masing, who is also Minister of Infrastructure Development and Transportation, told reporters at the State Legislative Assembly yesterday.
Masing said there has been a preliminary discussion with AirAsia on the matter but declined to divulge the details.
Earlier this month, Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai announced that MASwings will cease operations for six routes in Sabah and Sarawak by next year to make way for commercial airlines.
The routes are Kota Kinabalu-Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu-Tawau, Kota Kinabalu-Miri, Kuching-Miri, Kuching-Kota Kinabalu and Kuching-Sibu.