Better connectivity from Jan 21: MASwings

MASwings connects the world to Sabah and Sarawak.

MASwings, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), will increase its flight frequencies and improve connectivity come Jan 21 when the seventh Fokker F50 joins its existing fleet.
With 12 aircraft (seven Fokker F50 and five Twin Otters), MASwings will offer 85 additional weekly flights in East Malaysia, living up to its tagline ‘Connecting the world to Sabah and Sarawak’.

MASwings managing director Dr Amin Khan said that for 2008, MASwings would make 27,000 trips per annum or just over 2,000 per month.

“So in terms of flight, we have more than 70 per day while in terms of projection we expect to carry just over 700,000 passengers this year. Our strategy is to improve that number and one way is to bring in more tourists to Sabah and Sarawak,” he told reporters at a hotel here yesterday.

He said the 12 aircraft was timely for MASwings to gear up for the upcoming Chinese New Year and school holidays.

It was learnt that the fleet will enable MASwings to mount an additional 42 weekly flights within Sarawak, 11 services a week within Sabah and another 32 weekly flights between the two states.
MASwings took to the sky on Oct 1 last year with four Fokker 50 and four Twin Otter aircraft.
There will also be a revision of its weekly schedule to incorporate these 85 additional flights and also a review of the overall flight timing.

Amin said among the significant improvements in the airline’s network was an increased weekly Fokker 50 flights from seven to 14 on the Kuching-Sibu route and similar increase on the Kota Kinabalu-Sandakan and Sandakan-Tawau route.

He said the Kota Kinabalu-Sibu flights also increased from seven to 14 times a week and the current 10 weekly Kinabalu-Miri flights will be increased to 21.

“This is well-received by the business sectors and traders who especially want to make day trips. As for our Twin Otter, there will be a slight change in its schedule by March 28,” he said.
Recalling when MASwings first started, Dr Amin said the biggest challenge was in operations, so that was what the airline focused on initially to minimise cancellations and delays.
Fortunately, by the end of Dec last year MASwings was able to overcome the problems and moved on to its second and third phase of planning which encompassed the community and marketing strategy, he said.

He revealed that in terms of on-time performances, MASwings initially started with a target of achieving 86 per cent of on-time departures and in the first month of Oct, it achieved 84 per cent.
Come November, the airline topped that by achieving 88 per cent and this month it achieved 94 per cent, which pleased the Transport Ministry, he said.

Besides, to meet another request of the government, MASwings also provides complete interlining and good connectivity by making travelling less of a hassle as customers need only to go to one travel agent to book their tickets whether they travel all the way from London to Mulu or stop somewhere in between.

He said whether they travel by different airlines per sector, customers need only one booking reference and one ticket.

The ticket would also be an electronic one which would be an advantage if one were to lose the paper copy, he said.

The airline would have an image of the ticket in its database and allowed customers to fly or changed their flights even after they had lost their printed tickets, he said.

As for long distance travellers like those from London to Mulu, for example, they only need to check in their luggage once in London and vice versa, he said, adding that at one time this was not possible and passengers had to re-check their luggage during transit.

Amin stressed that MASwings was dedicated to providing excellent air services and would be replacing its Fokker 50 in the near future with a 70-seater ATR72-500.

MASwings, through MAS, has signed a memorandum of understanding pertaining to the purchase of 10 ATR72-500 and expected to receive at least one of the aircraft by this year.
These new aircraft will enable MASwings to expand its capacity by 150 per cent to meet future demand in Sabah and Sarawak.

Amin said customers were encouraged to go online to MASwings booking engine www.maswings.com.my for better offers that were lower by 30 per cent or more. No service fee is charged.

Launched on Dec 15, MASwings now registered a penetration of 10 per cent of its total bookings online, he said.

He said MASwings would soon have a new web engine by the end of next month, offering two virtual cabins (different prices) - flex saver and full flex.

“We will be branding the fares for better pricing. If you go by the internet booking, we guarantee the lowest fares on MASwings and the discounts could easily be 30 per cent and more,” he said.
He said that MASwings would be promoting its ‘Click n Go’ ticketing online very soon