PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) will resume operation of flights from Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak this week, says the Transport Ministry.
The flights are from KL-Kuching-KL, KL-Miri-KL, and KL-Kota Kinabalu–KL.
All these flights will operate once a week.
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the Ministry had noted the call of the Sarawak Government to resume flights between Peninsular Malaysia and the State.
He said they had requested MAS and AirAsia to reconsider their decisions and to operate flight services to Sabah and Sarawak.
Dr Wee said the Ministry had never instructed airlines such as Malaysia Airlines (MAS), AirAsia or Malindo to stop their flights to Sarawak or Sabah. He pointed out that both MAS and AirAsia had halted their operations on their own accord.
Dr Wee said he had contacted Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) regarding the matter, and that they had said they would resume flights this week.
He said they would make sure that the flights will be connected by MASwings from Miri-Bintulu-Miri, Kuching-Sibu-Kuching and Sibu-Bintulu-Sibu.
“If the demand increases, they will add more flights to Kuching, Miri or Kota Kinabalu from next week. Therefore, Sarawak will still be connected to Peninsular Malaysia,” Dr Wee said in a statement.
He added that at the same time, MAS also emphasised that their cargo service, especially the transport of goods such as food and medical necessities to Sarawak had never ceased during the period of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
He said cargo flights to Sarawak and Sabah will continue to operate three times a week.
These are the KL-Kuching-KL, KL-Kota Kinabalu-KL, and KL-Labuan-KL routes.
With the operation of these MASwings, the interior of Sarawak and Sabah will still be connected. In the event of demand and the increase of passengers, MAS is ready to increase their flight frequency,” said Dr Wee.
On March 26, AirAsia Group Berhad said that they were forced to stop operations for both international and domestic flights from March 28-April 28, saying that it was the best step for the good of the passengers and staff.
MAS also said they were halting operations as the number of passengers had dropped drastically to 10-15pc and that it would have resulted in big losses that would cause worse implications if the operations continued.
