SARIKEI: Sarawak has no problem with the neighbouring state of Sabah acquiring shares in AirBorneo Holding Sdn Bhd, said Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg.
He said he had informed Sabah Governor Tun Musa Aman and other leaders that Sarawak was willing to share AirBorneo with them.
“I said if they want to share, we can share with them. It is still open. We can share with Sabah, nothing wrong with that as both are on the island of Borneo.
“But they replied that they wanted to wait first before accepting the offer, probably they are looking for capital.
“We have the capital to set up airlines on our own,” he said at the closing ceremony of a fishing competition in Belawai.
He said the Sabah leaders had asked him about AirBorneo yesterday while he was in Kota Kinabalu for the opening ceremony of the International Youth Leadership Training 2025, organised by the Regional Islamic Da’wah Council of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (RISEAP) at the Sabah International Convention Centre.
Abang Johari is the RISEAP president.
He said he had told the Sabah leaders the airlines would start its operations next year, if all things go according to plan. AirBorneo is a rebranded MASwings, following its acquisition by Sarawak from Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) through a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) signed on Feb 12, 2025.
At the signing of the agreement, Abang Johari described the acquisition as a key step in positioning Sarawak as a regional aviation hub. He had said the state government was positioning and transforming Sarawak as an aviation hub for Borneo and a gateway to Asean.
The state is on track to finalise the acquisition by Dec 31 this year as both AirBorneo and MAG are currently in the process of securing regulatory approvals from several aviation authorities.
These include the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
AirBorneo is expected to continue to operate Rural Air Services (RAS) for remote areas in Sarawak and Sabah, while all MASwings staff will be retained under the new entity.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
