Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 14): Malaysia Airlines Bhd will resume once-weekly service between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching, Miri and Kota Kinabalu starting this week, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

At the same time, MASwings Sdn Bhd will resume its flights between Kuching and Sibu. The sister airline of Malaysia Airlines is maintaining its daily flight schedule on the Miri-Bintulu and Sibu-Bintulu routes.

"If demand increases, they will add more flights to Kuching, Miri or Kota Kinabalu starting next week," he added.

Wee was responding to comments by Sarawak State Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah yesterday, who was reported as saying that the Sarawak state government had urged the country's three airlines Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia Group Bhd and Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd to reconsider their decision to stop flights to the state during the movement control order (MCO) period, which ends on April 28.

In his Facebook post today, Wee said his ministry had never directed the three Malaysia-based airlines to stop flights between the peninsula, and Sabah and Sarawak.

Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo Air have grounded most of their fleet and temporarily suspended flights since last month as travel demand drops because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak and cross-border travel restrictions.

"However, Malaysia Airlines has emphasised that their cargo service, especially in carrying essential goods such as food and medical supplies to Sarawak, continues during the MCO period," said Wee.

Later, in a separate statement, Malaysia Airlines said the KL-Kota Kinabalu and KL-Miri sectors will be operated on Thursdays, and on Fridays for the KL-Kuching sector. The flights will be operated by Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 aircraft while the intrastate flights in Sarawak will be operated by the ATR 72.

Malaysia Airlines group CEO Captain Izham Ismail said, “Following the nationwide MCO by the government between March 18 and 28, all airlines under Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd have had to significantly reduce services across its entire network."

"However, as the national airline of the country, we continue to serve the nation and our network by maintaining domestic and international connectivity mostly to facilitate essential movements. Our domestic services in Peninsular Malaysia are currently supported by Firefly and Malaysia Airlines, which continue to mount rescue and repatriation flights worldwide. We also ensure global supply chains are maintained for the most time-sensitive supplies via MABkargo, and we are happy for MASwings to continue connectivity between Kuching and Sibu for the sake of the local community there, besides our usual services.”

 

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