AirBorneo to Soar by March 2026
The government of Sarawak in Malaysia has announced that its new Sarawak-based carrier, AirBorneo, will be fully operational by the end of March 2026 following its recent acquisition of MASwings from Malaysia Aviation Group. Sarawak Transport Minister Lee Kim Shin confirmed that work is underway to secure regulatory approvals, operational readiness, recruitment, and rebranding, and that the holding company AirBorneo Holdings must meet all regulatory, operational, and financial requirements by December 31, 2025, including securing approvals from the Malaysian Aviation Commission and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, obtaining IATA and ICAO codes, and signing a new rural air services agreement with the Malaysian government. MASwings, a regional carrier based in Kota Kinabalu with a fleet of nine ATR72-500s and six DHC-6-400s, will be relaunched as AirBorneo, and the government has suggested that future flights could potentially link Sarawak with international destinations such as Singapore Changi, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta, and Hong Kong International, with previous mentions of Frankfurt International also circulating. Malaysian Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook, who helped broker the acquisition, expressed support for Sarawak’s aviation ambitions, noting that AirBorneo would be treated like any other Malaysian airline and could leverage international air service agreements, although he warned that significant capital investment would be required. The acquisition is part of a broader strategy to improve connectivity in Sarawak and is accompanied by several airport infrastructure upgrades, including extending the runways at Bario and Limbang, as well as plans to build a new airport at Lawas and upgrade Marudi and Mulu airports; furthermore, a tender for a new terminal at Miri is expected to open toward the end of the year to address the current capacity issues, as the airport handles 2.4 million passengers annually, which exceeds its stated capacity.
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Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com