MASwings Reduces Palawan service

Due to Seasonal Variations

4 July 2014

By Romer S. Sarmiento

After barely a month of flying the Kota Kinabalu-Puerto Princesa route five times a week, MASwings Sdn. Bhd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, has reverted to thrice-a-week flights even amid increasing tourist traffic, officials said.

Doreen Padilla of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP)-Puerto Princesa City, Palawan office said late Wednesday afternoon that the CAAP received notification from MASwings temporarily suspending two flights effective June 30.

“The airline advised us they will temporarily suspend their Monday and Thursday flights as there are some requirements they need to comply with,” Ms. Padilla said in a phone interview.

She did not elaborate on the requirements, while the airline’s local representatives could not be reached for comment.

MASwings previously announced on its Web site that effective June 2, it would service the route five times a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday) using a 64-seater ATR72-500 aircraft.

In increasing their flights to five times a week, MASwings Chief Commercial Officer Shauqi Ahmad said in an earlier statement: “MASwings is pleased to be able to meet the great demand on the route Kota Kinabalu-Puerto Princesa. With its eco-tourism attractions… Puerto Princesa is quickly making its mark on the list of Must Go destinations.”

Meanwhile, Romeo Montenegro, Mindanao Development Authority director for investment promotions and public affairs which serves as the Philippine coordinating office for BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area), said traffic between Kota Kinabalu and Palawan has been on an uptrend since last month, though he did not give specific numbers.

“This a positive development in our efforts to further strengthen air connectivity between Palawan and Kota Kinabalu to lure more people to visit tourism sites in the BIMP-EAGA,” he told BusinessWorld.

Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and Palawan in the Philippines are two focus areas under the BIMP-EAGA, a grouping launched in 1994 to accelerate the social and economic growth in the less developed areas in participating countries.

MASwings began servicing the Kota Kinabalu-Puerto Princesa route in November 2013.