News
1 Oct 2007
MASWings takes to the skies today
New airline connects the world to Sabah and Sarawak
Mulu (1 October 2007): MASWings, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines takes to the skies today to serve Sabah and Sarawak.
MASWings commenced its inaugural flight from Miri to Mulu today at 9.10 am, the first of 451 weekly flights to serve a network of 21 destinations in Sabah and Sarawak.
Deputy Transport Minister Malaysia, Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas, MASWings Chairman and Malaysia Airlines Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Idris Jala and MASWings Managing Director, Dr Amin Khan were among the first passengers on the Fokker 50 flight to Mulu. They were later joined by the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud on arrival in Mulu.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony of the aircraft bound for the next flight, Mulu to Miri was formalised by the Chief Minister who then inspected the interior of the aircraft.
Minister of Finance (II) and Minister of Urban Development & Tourism, Sarawak, Dato' Seri Wong Soon Koh; and Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Tourism Board, Ms Gracie Geikie were also present at the event in Mulu.
In Sabah, the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Hj. Aman sent off passengers of MASWings' first flight in the state from Kota Kinabalu to Lahad Datu at 10am.
Amin said, "We are delighted to take to the skies today, offering more frequency, better schedules and connectivity, and affordable fares to the communities in Sarawak and Sabah.
"We are also offering the full interlining services which allow customers to check-in all the way to their final destinations with just one ticket. We are confident this will connect the world to the two states which are ideal destinations for business and vacations."
Jala said, "MASWings will play a key role in linking up Malaysia Airlines' passengers worldwide to Sarawak and Sabah.
"We are aggressively expanding our network in key growth markets such as South Asia, Australia and China. We are also adding new routes and are in discussions with other airlines to expand our hub-and-spoke network. All these initiatives will draw more travelers to Kuala Lumpur and onwards to East Malaysia."
MASWings offers increased weekly frequencies as follows:
- 168 Fokker 50 flights and 146 Twin Otter flights within Sarawak.
- 72 Fokker 50 flights and 9 Twin Otter flights within Sabah
- 51 Fokker 50 flights and 5 Twin Otter flights between Sabah and Sarawak.
The jewel of Sarawak, Mulu, is linked to Miri, Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah with more weekly services than before. Top tourist attractions in Sabah including the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary and Danum Valley will once again, like Mulu, be easily accessible, putting these destinations again on the global tourist map.
Amin also said, "We want to put these top tourist spots on the "must visit" list for any tourist visiting Malaysia. As such, we will be working closely with the tourism boards of the respective states to offer travel packages to key tourist attractions including to the two world heritage sites, Mulu and Mount Kinabalu."
In conjunction with the launch, MASWings announced its first community programme, Wings for Children.
Jala said, "We want to provide the much-needed support to young patients and their families especially to those in rural areas. As such, we have specially created Wings for Children which will provide free airlift for seriously ill infant and children below 12 years old who require immediate medical attention"
MASWings will also complement Malaysia Airlines services by offering additional capacity on 6 routes currently operated by Malaysia Airlines only. The routes are Kota Kinabalu to 3 destinations, Miri, Labuan and Sandakan, and Kuching to Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
Cabin crew services are available on all Fokker 50 flights. Trained by Malaysia Airlines cabin staff which was voted "World's Best Cabin Staff" by Skytrax, customers will enjoy the same hospitality that they have come to expect from Malaysia Airlines.
More flights will be offered in the near future as MASWings will progressively grow the size of its fleet. Effective 28 October 2007, MASWings will operate with 7 Fokker 50 and 5 Twin Otter. By 1 December 2007, there will be 8 Fokker 50 and 5 Twin Otter aircraft.
More information on MASWings is available at
www.maswings.com.my
Bookings are currently accepted through Malaysia Airlines Call Centre, 1-300-88-3000 (Malaysia only), +603-7843 3000 (global) as well as airlines and travel agents worldwide. Bookings through MASWings website is also accepted effective 15 December 2007.
Issued by:
Media Relations, Communications Division
Malaysia Airlines, Subang
For more information on this release, media can contact:
Anbarasu.S
Email:arasu@mas.com.my