MASwings

MASwings is a subsidiary airline of Malaysia Airlines which flies the regional routes on East Malaysia. It started flying in 2007. It has three hubs - Miri Airport, Kota Kinabalu International Airport and Kuching International Airport.

It is headquartered in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. It has the IATA code of MH, ICAO code of MWG and callsign of MASWINGS.

History

AirAsia took over the regional routes in East Malaysia after Malaysia Airlines dropped these scheduled flights. They subcontracted FlyAsianXpress, an AIrAsia group company to fly these routes. However, due to customer complaints about delays, cancellations and poor customer service, FlyAsianXpress had to cease operations on these routes and handed them back over to Malaysia Airlines. FlyAsianXpress then changed their name to AirAsia X and decided to focus on long haul flights. Malaysia Airlines set up MASwings as a subsidiary to fly these regional routes.

MASwings started flying in 2007 on routes in East Malaysia. They announced plans to start flying to the Philippines, Kalimantan and Sulawesi by 2010 but due to regulatory delays, only established routes to Pontianak, Balikpapan and Tarakan in Kalimatan. It also announced plans to fly to more airports in the Brunei Indonesia Malaysia Philippines - East Asian Growth Area including Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, Cebu and Davao in Philippines and Sulawesi and Irian Jaya in Indonesia.

Management and Ownership

MASwings in headquartered in the MAS/MASwings Administration Building in Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It moved there from Beautiful Jade Centre in Miri, where it was previously headquartered. It is owned wholly by Malaysia Airlines, which is, in turn, is mostly owned by the investment arm of the Malaysian government, Khazana.

Its CEO is Captain Datuk Mohammad Nawawi Awang and its COO is Nasip Roslan.

Flights Operated

MASwings currently flies to 26 destinations over East Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines and Indonesia. It has three hubs in Miri, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. It covers Sarawak and Sabah extensively. After Royal Brunei announced plans to cut some flights due to financial troubles in the company, MASwings expanded their domestic operations in Brunei to aid the tourist industry in the country.

In Brunei, it flies to Bandar Seri Bagawan. In Indonesia it flies to Supadio Airport in Pontianak and Taranak's Juwata Airport. It flies to Puerto Princesa International Airport in Puerto Princesa, Philippines. It also flies to the Federal Territory in Malaysia out of Labaun Airport.

Fleet

MASwings operates many small aircrafts and has a fleet size of 18 with 14 pending orders for aircraft. It has 10 ATR 72 - 500 aircrafts that can seat 68 passengers. It has 3 ATR 72 - 600 aircrafts with 13 ordered. These planes can seat 72 passengers. The ordered aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2014 for expanded service in Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia. It has 5 DHC - 6 Series 400 aircrafts that are smaller than the others and can seat 19 passengers. They also have 13 pending orders for this type of aircraft.

Other Services

It operated two frequent flier programs - Enrich and Grads. Since it is a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, these programs are transferrable between the two airlines. Enrich has several levels and is available for all passengers while Grads is a loyalty program intended for students that offers them competitive pricing and discounts during certain times of the year on certain routes.