Brunei-KK route talks concluded swiftly, says MASwings

NEGOTIATIONS for MASwings' recently launched Kota Kinabalu-Bandar Seri Begawan route took a "very fast" nine months, said its managing director.

Large amounts of paperwork and government-to-government procedures were to be expected, as is normally the case in any talks for an airline to enter an international airspace. But to take nine months to get where MASwings is at now, "it's already considered fast," said Datuk Captain Mohd Nawawi.

It was announced last year that flights from Kota Kinabalu to Bandar Seri Begawan were to begin on July 2011, but was delayed to October 2011. The airline finally launched the route on February 1, 2012.

"Even with nine months to get to where we're at now, it's already considered fast. Especially when looking at a normal agreement to start new operations for a foreign airline," he said, pointing out that it would usually take longer to achieve.

When asked what caused the delay, he said that MASwings initially thought the process would only take three months.

"Upon joining MASwings in April (2011), we applied to the government on April 29, 2011 for the flights (to Brunei). So, we set the deadline three months later in July," he explained.

"However, in July nothing came through (to us), so we postponed another three months and only in November, we got the approval from the cabinet."

Following the approval, the MD said that there was still a lot of process involved, as well as paperwork to be filed.

When asked about the load factors for the Brunei sector for the next few months, Datuk Capt Mohd Nawawi declined to reveal any figures, saying that it is still too early to say.

He assured that the response has been "positive", especially in the Tawau-Tarakan sector.

"Take for example from Tawau to Tarakan, passengers know they can go online (to get) our flights, which is 30 minutes travelling time compared to four hours by ferry. People are already waiting for us on that," he said.

The Tawau-Tarakan (South Kalimantan) flight will begin on February 13.

Industry insiders who travelled from Brunei to KK on the inaugural flight earlier last week said flights from Brunei to Kuching during the first week of operation was at 90 per cent capacity, whilst flights from Brunei to KK had more than 50 per cent.

"We are on course to realise our medium-term and hopefully long-term plan to expand services of MASwings to other parts of the region," said Sabah's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Dato Masidi Manjun.

The minister said there needs to be an airline serving the interests of Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan, which MASwings can play a lead role in.

If the expansion of MASwings services is fruitful in the near future, there will also be a need for the federal government to consider allowing MASwings to operate an aircraft that can fly longer distances, he added.

Upon arrival in Brunei on the inaugural flight on February 1, Datuk Capt Mohd Nawawi said that the airline is currently carrying out "trial" flights to monitor demand.

He said that MASwings will be ready to initiate extra flights to Kuching if there is sufficient demand.

Bandar Seri Begawan is MASwings' first international destination, which will be followed by Tarakan and Pontianak.

The fully-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines will be looking to expand to further destinations such as cities in the Southern Philippines, and also further Indonesian cities such as Balikpapan.

The Brunei Times