He said while the ministry welcomes the proposal by the Sarawak Government to set up a boutique airline, there are details that need to be looked into before granting the operating approval.

“For your information, the Ministry of Transport welcomes the Sarawak Government’s proposal to establish its own airline that is a boutique airline.

“The Ministry of Transport through the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) will examine and consider the proposal accordingly after a complete application has been submitted to the government for consideration,” he said in the Parliament today.

Hasbi, who is Limbang MP, was replying to a question from Julau MP Datuk Larry Sng who asked for the Transport Ministry’s response and update about Sarawak’s proposal to establish its own airline.

According to Hasbi, the conditions that are considered before the operating approval is granted are the new airline company must obtain the Air Service Licence (ASL) from Mavcom and Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC)  from the Malaysian Aviation Authority (CAAM) to enable the airline to run scheduled passenger and cargo flight services.

“In the effort of obtain ASL, Mavcom will examine and consider, among other things, the status and background of the applicant’s financial plan, the reasonableness of the business plan, the ability and legitimacy of the management, and whether the entire operation application is realistic,” he said.

Last month, state Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lee Kim Shin said the proposed boutique airline was still at the preliminary application stage.

He said the application was submitted on April 11 and that the state government would comply with all the necessary requirements in order to get the approval for the airline.

In April, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar  Ibrahim had agreed in principle to Sarawak’s request to form the boutique airline as the state had a proven track record of good management.