Sarawak, Sabah in Talks with Khazanah about MASWings Shares

10th Aug 2015

Sarawak Minister of Tourism Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg explained that formal talks between his government and Khazanah began in July.

State governments of Sarawak and Sabah have been interested in buying MASWings since 2012, with the idea of making it a sub-Asean carrier. The hubs would be at Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

According to Johari, Sarawak and Sabah reignited their interest in MASWings following Khazanah announcement of restructuring plans for Malaysia Airlines.

Speaking at a press conference at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching on Saturday, the minister said:

We forwarded our interest to the Federal Government and to Khazanah. Last month, I received the reply. Khazanah said the Federal Government had no objections and we started negotiations. In terms of equity, it is not certain, but what is certain is, there are now negotiations. If successful, MASWings will become the main airline for Sarawak and Sabah.

Deal Would Bring New Routes for MASWings, Says Johari

According to Johari, should the negotiations with Khazanah prove successful, they would include several new flight routes for MASWings. These would include direct flights to Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok and Shenzhen, as well as destinations in Australia. In addition, flight to Singapore would also be more frequent as the result.

During the first negotiations in 2012, the plan was for each state to hold a 30% ownership in MASWings, while the parent company, Malaysia Airlines, would keep 40%. The negotiations, however, failed early next year.

The idea was brought again by Johari and Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister of Sabah Masidi Manjun at the carrier’s promotional event “The New Beginning”, held in January this year.

Minister Masidi said he was of an opinion that MASWings would do much better if it was less reliant on its parent company, Malaysia Airlines.