MASwings, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, will replace its ageing Twin Otter aircraft with a new fleet in a move to beef up its rural air service in Sabah and Sarawak.

Chief executive officer Kapten Mohd Nawawi Awang said the proposal to replace all four aircraft of more than 20 years-old was submitted to the Transport Ministry last year.

“We are now awaiting approval from the ministry and hope it will be forthcoming soon,” he told reporters after the launch of air services in the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines - East Asean Growth Area (BIMG-EAGA) in Kuching last night.

He said MASwings has identified the Viking 400, Skylander and Dornier 228 as possible replacements for the Twin Otter.

Mohd Nawawi said MASwings was confident of tapping the vast tourist potential in the BIMP-EAGA, which covered seven to eight main cities with a population of about eight million people.

He said MASWings’ new air service in Borneo would boost the tourism sector in Sabah, Sarawak, East Kalimantan and Brunei.

Currently, MASwings operates in 16 destinations in Sarawak, five in Sabah and one in Labuan with 940 weekly flights and ferrying an average of 118,000 passengers monthly.

- Bernama