KUCHING: Sarawak's state-owned airline AirBorneo plans to fly to Singapore by the end of this month, after launching its Kuching-Kuala Lumpur route on July 20.
AirBorneo chief executive officer Megat Ardian Aminuddin said this marked the start of its jet operations.
He said AirBorneo had already secured approval and air traffic rights for the Singapore route, while operational testing at Changi Airport remained to be finalised.
"Once that is done, then we have a firm date of when we want to launch. But it will be soon after the Kuala Lumpur route.
"If everything goes well, it will be by the end of July," he told a media roundtable here on Wednesday (July 8).
Megat Ardian said AirBorneo will fly the Kuala Lumpur and Singapore routes with two wet-lease Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The airline will fly twice daily to Kuala Lumpur and once daily to Singapore.
It plans to add three more jet aircraft next year and one every quarter starting 2028, totalling 17 aircraft by the end of 2030.
AirBorneo will target regional destinations with a flight time of three to five hours.
"This will be Asean cities as well as other destinations within three to five hours," he said.
Megat Ardian also said AirBorneo hoped to be the official airline for the 2027 SEA Games, which will be co-hosted by Sarawak.
"By the start of next year, we may have two to three Asean destinations already on our scheduled flights.
"However, there will be some Asean destinations that we're not yet flying to. Those are the ones that we can start with scheduled charter flights," he said.
