MASwings will cease operations for six routes in Sabah and Sarawak by next year to make way for commercial airlines said the Transport Minister of Malaysia in a press statement on 08 Novermber 2017. He said this was decided after a study was done by the Malaysia Aviation Commission on Rural Air Services. It was found that the six existing routes jointly operated by MASwings and commercial airlines like Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia had a high load factor of up to 86% making it profitable for commercial airlines.
The routes are:
1. Kota Kinabakalu - Sandakan vv
2. Kota Kinabalu - Tawau vv
3. Kota Kinabalu - Miri vv
4. Kota Kinabalu - Kuching vv
5. Kuching - Miri vv
6. Kuching - Sibu vv
According
to the Minister, the above routes would be opened up for all commercial
carriers except MASwings. Something is wrong somewhere!
MASwings is not considered a commercial airline? This could be the plan
to shut down MASwings in the near future or is it another round of staff retrenchment ?
Let's
share the history of our East Malaysia domestic operations in the
past. Well before Malaysia Airlines was born, these services were
operated by Borneo Airway in the 50s, then Malayan Airways in the early 60s, Malaysia Singapore Airlines in 1966-1972 and finally Malaysia Airlines from October 1972.
These were some of the aircraft seen in the East Malaysia sky in the past.
Out of the blue in April 2006, the Government
announced that they have appointed AirAsia to take over all Malaysia Airlines East Malaysia and Rural Air Services routes
from 01 August 2006. As a result, a new airlines, FlyAsianXpress (FAX)
owned by AirAsia took the East Malaysia sky.
FAX aircraft
FlyAsianXpress
was ill prepared and it was not welcomed by the public as soon as they started the operations.
Commuters, civil servants, and people working in the tourism industry
criticized the airline for their poor service and long delay with
frequent cancellation of flights without notice. It's also more
expensive to fly comparing to Malaysia Airlines. After less than a year
in operation, FAX was at a lost with most of their aircraft grounded. They were unable to maintain schedule and decided to quit and approached the government for help. The government
finally decided to terminate their contract and asked Malaysia Airlines
to resume operations with an assurance
that any financial loss will be borne by the government.
On 01 October 2007, a new airlines was born - MASwings, the subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines began the East Malaysia operation including Rural Air Services with eight 50-seater F50 and four 19-seater Twin Otter aircraft. All these aircraft were used by FAX and was restored and refurbished by Malaysia Airlines.
F50 and Twin Otter DHC-6 310
By 2009, the Fokker-50 fleets were phased out - replaced by ATR72-500 the advanced turboprop aircraft.
The 64-seaters ATR72-500
Currently, MASwings is serving a network of 24 destinations and operates
with ten (10) 64-seater ATR 72-500, an advanced turboprop aircraft
which connects Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, and Miri International Airports
to major towns and cities in East Malaysia.
In
addition to the new turboprops, MASwings also upgraded their Twin Otter fleet to the 19-seater Viking Air DH6 400 series Twin Otter. These aircraft
are deemed vital lifeline in providing air transportation into remote
and highlander areas many of which are inaccessible by road. MASwings’
regular Twin Otter service operates out of eleven (11) Short Take Off
Landing (STOL) ports across Sabah and Sarawak.
In
my opinion, the government should not take out MASwings on the 6 routes as it will continue to give MASwings the opportunity to make profit. I believed that the traveling public will enjoy better services and cheaper fares with more commercial airlines and MASwings servicing these routes.
We have had extraordinarily rainfall in the second half of 2017. It's only a few days to Christmas followed by the end of 2017. Let's pray for favourable weather during Christmas and the New Year . 
