I. Wong

Air Asia SBW-SIN starting December 2022, 4X weekly

Firefly's new B737 services from PEN to KCH, BKI and JHB from 11/4/2022

Finally, AK is flying PEN to SBW twice weekly on Thursday and Saturday

Scoot is starting Singapore to Miri twice weekly on Wednesday and Saturday using A320

PEN-SBW 3x weekly from 8/12/2020 and you can actually book on AK website. Really didn't see this route coming, especially amid COVID-19 https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/294481/airasia-4q20-malaysia-domestic-network-additions/

Six flights per week for SBW-BWN, but overnight required for transit passengers to most destination. I wonder how attractive is this, even if the fares are extremely low for some international destination. https://www.flyroyalbrunei.com/malaysia/en/deals/sibu-to-brunei-rblink-launching-deals/

BSB? Brasilia in Brazil? Will this means there will be first international flight between SBW and BWN? I hope this route can sustain as BWN can be a good alternative to KUL and SIN for those travelling abroad from Sarawak. I noticed few months ago, BI had good price for flight from LHR to KUL at less than £400 return.

MAB make a u-turn, again quietly add snack and beverages back to Economy Lite.

MAB silently remove snack and beverage from Economy Lite, only Basic and Flexi have snack included in the fares.

They have just updated their FAQ https://mhcare.malaysiaairlines.com/faq/s/article/How-much-is-my-free-baggage-allowance?language=en_US

I know many airlines have hand bag only fares, but for MAB to charge RM303 for a 20kg luggage is simply unreasonable (even AK charge around RM26-30 for a 20kg luggage). I hope this is an error in the system, but most people would either choose Basic fare which is inclusive of 20kg luggage, or stick on Lite fare with hand carry luggage only. Previously, I always travelled with MAB domestically because their fares came with 30kg checked in luggage and inflight meal, if the fares were just slightly more expensive than AK. I used to pay between RM100 and RM130 one way for flight between KUL and Sarawak. But now, to have 20kg luggage (plus meal) included in your ticket, I need to pay around RM200 one way. The gap between AK and MH is widening in my opinion when one can still get AK ticket for less than RM150 inclusive checked in luggage and meal. In some highly competitive domestic routes, I don't think it will do anything good to MAB.

If you just buy Economy Lite ticket and then add a 20kg checked luggage, it will cost you RM303.16 for a 20kg luggage alone. Something is not right here for MAB. So, basically, those who need to check in luggage should select Economy Basic, rather than Lite.

MAB introduced three types of economy fares: Economy Lite (which come with no checked luggage allowance), Economy Basic (with 20kg checked luggage) and Economy Flexible (with 25kg checked luggage). This is the first time I have seen this when trying to book a domestic flight. I don't think I have come across any news regarding this change. Basically, if you want to travel with MAB with checked luggage, you need to pay much more than before. This may just make their fares not competitive when compared with AK.

UK the latest country to ban MAX 8 https://twitter.com/dannihewson/status/1105458620743991296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1105458724318130176&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Flive%2Fbusiness-47493634

Approximately 8 AK flights to/ from KUL, 4 AK flights to/ from JHB and 3 MH flights to/ from KUL everyday in last few days. On most days, you would be able to get a total of 22 daily A320/ B738 departures or arrivals. SBW is certainly busy during festival period.