AirBorneo plans Kuching-Jakarta flights in October
The proposed service would be the airline’s second international route, targeting a market of about 100,000 passengers annually.
Sarawak-owned AirBorneo Airways intends to begin flying directly between Kuching and Jakarta in October, chief executive officer Megat Ardian Wira Mohd Aminuddin said. The full-service airline is seeking passengers from existing operators while aiming to stimulate demand with more capacity and business-class options.
Speaking at a Jakarta media roundtable, Megat Ardian said the service would initially rotate between the airline’s two leased jets. AirBorneo plans to increase its jet fleet to five aircraft.
The airline is targeting business travellers, government travellers, medical tourists, holidaymakers and passengers visiting relatives or friends. Megat Ardian said Jakarta would be its first Indonesian destination, with other cities a possibility as demand and operations develop.
AirBorneo uses wet-leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft for jet operations. Each aircraft has 12 seats in business class and 150 in economy. Its jet services started on July 20 on the Kuching-Kuala Lumpur route, before the Kuching-Singapore international service began on July 22.
According to Megat Ardian, the airline has flown 43,502 passengers on approximately 500 jet services since July. He put its on-time performance at more than 95 per cent.
For Rural Air Services (RAS), he reported 547,969 passengers and 22,532 flights between January and October, with on-time performance above 93 per cent.
