National carrier Malaysia Airlines will begin servicing the Kuching-Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia to Balikpapan in Indonesia route early next month, it said today.

The carrier said it will operate twice-weekly flights between Kuching and Balikpapan from July 3 and twice-weekly flights between Kota Kinabalu and Balikpapan effective July 4.

A two-class configured Boeing 737-400 aircraft will be used for the new services injecting a total capacity of 288 seats per week per direction on each route, it said in a company statement.

Code-sharing arrangement

The services will be operated on a code-sharing basis with Garuda Indonesia.

"This is yet another commitment by Malaysia Airlines, in cooperation with Garuda Indonesia, towards the growth of the air transport industry within the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area) region," Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan, Malaysia Airlines' senior general manager said.

"We also hope to tap the natural traffic potential in this vast and populous region," he said.

With the introduction of the new services, Balikpapan will become Malaysia Airlines' seventh Indonesian destination, after Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Denpasar, Pontianak and Tarakan. - AFP