Giak Selliman

Yeah it appears Xpress also flies from KCH<>PNK. I plan on using them from PNK to JOG in the future though. So, 2 options now to get to PNK from KCH: MASWings and Xpress.

So 5 years later, guess what guys? Pretty much the exact same situation - only this time Batavia is gone and MASWings has picked up the slack from KCH<>PNK. Wasn't AirAsia talking about reintroducing KCH<>CGK at some point? Probably all just talk. I've taken the MASWings flight before and while it's quick - it's usually a delay-crazy hassle on a Garuda flight out to CGK. I think the delay was over 3 hours last time. You know, the problem isn't really PNK or CGK, it's KCH. As mentioned in other threads, it's just not really being used as any kind of significant hub. Weak, lah, weak.

Definitely sounds like Sriwijaya to my ears as well. /Sree - Wih - Jai - UH/ 8860 I also hear 8870 at the start, then later 8860.

Sigh. Always the same BS isn't it?

Is there any official announcement anywhere of this? I do remember seeing dates for when MASwings would begin operating KCH-PNK, but it's definitely past that date and I see no flights available. And yes, in general, I believe if Sarawak, Sabah, and Kalimantan were to connect their turbo-prop networks, all states would benefit. Borneo is too disconnected from what it should be.

Yes you're correct guys, sorry for the error. The core issues that I'm trying to bring up are two-fold. One, that KCH continues to dissipate as a hub - and two, Sarawak and Kalimantan feel artificially separated more than they should be. Now, I know it's all economy, demand, etc. based but one would think it'd be mutually beneficial for the two regions to have better connected transportation networks - perhaps increasing intra-Borneo trade, transit, and communication. There's rural connectivity within Sarawak and rural connectivity within Kalimantan, but as far as I know, very little cross-connectedness other than a few bus and informal land/water routes. Obviously the border and two competing nations have a big part in that. Oh and then there's Brunei running their BSB hub out of the north part of the region. It's all so flimsily connected - on the surface it may look like it, in reality: nope.

I'm finding it more and more difficult to find direct flights to common destinations I used to take in the past. For instance, my favored KCH<->CGK route which was serviced by QZ is now toast. That really throws a wrench in the gears for me. Now, simply to go from Kuching to Jakarta I have to fly via BA to PNK, then PNK->CGK. All this for something that used to be a simple 1h45m flight. While I'm sure it had load issues, every time I took said flight over the last 2 years it was nearly packed up during December time-frame. Rather than yanking the route, it would have been nice if AA just scaled the route's frequency back. On top of that, any of the other normal routes from the standard players are almost always KCH->KUL->CGK which quite frankly, sucks! Now today I'm trying to schedule flight from CGK->BKI, and checking around - guess what? Only AA makes that flight directly. Otherwise, pay MAS 3 times the price to go all the way to KUL and back to BKI - which for the same reasons as the other flight, sucks! Takes way too much time just to do a simple Borneo<->Java flight. I don't know if it's just me, but it seems very few carriers handle anything between MY and ID unless it's direct hubs like KUL or CGK. If it isn't a major hub, you're screwed. On top of that, if it's anything rural (which I also do), you will find zero rural flights inter-Borneo: that is, Sarawak to Kalimantan. The only flight I know of is the lone Batavia Air route from KCH to PNK, and that is hardly rural. Even something as simple as a BPN route from KCH or MYY would be useful. Probably no market though, sigh. Additionally, the lack of common inter-Borneo access seems misguided to me. Kalimantan and Sarawak are like 2 separate territories (once one) that while even occupying the same island - feel artificially cut off from each other. I know, sour grapes right. I should be happy that AA are at least out there and providing these flights - and in a way I am grateful. But I guess what I'm less grateful about is watching obvious routes disappear and become relegated to hub-spoke model routes that easily double or triple the flight time. On top of that it feels like ease of flight access in/out Sarawak is receding, not growing.