KUCHING, July 20 — AirBorneo today made history with the commencement of its first jet operations through the inaugural Kuching-Kuala Lumpur flight.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg was among the passengers on the maiden flight, MY5005, which departed from Kuching International Airport at 1.20pm for Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

The flight marked AirBorneo’s expansion of operations to Peninsular Malaysia using a Boeing 737-800 jet aircraft following the Sarawak government-owned airline’s takeover of MASwings Sdn Bhd’s operations on January 1 this year.

In his speech at the launch ceremony of the flight, Abang Johari described the airline as an important ‘bridge’ connecting Sarawak on the island of Borneo with the rest of the world.

“When Japan was rebuilding itself after the war one of its first strategic moves was to establish Japan Airlines. Like Sarawak, Japan is an island so connectivity is extremely important.

“After establishing its national airline, Japan became an industrialised and developed nation ahead of many other Asian countries.

“Learning from that, it is important for us to connect our economy with the world and our trading partners. We must have our own logistics network through which we can export our goods and services,” he said.

On July 7, AirBorneo announced the opening of ticket sales for the Kuching-Kuala Lumpur route, offering twice-daily services between Kuching International Airport and KLIA Terminal 1.

AirBorneo has set one-way fares at RM375 for Economy Class and RM736 for Business Class, inclusive of airport taxes and fuel surcharges. — Bernama