Malaysia's new low-cost carrier MYAirline will expand its domestic network by adding new routes to Tawau and Miri. The news came just two weeks after the country's newest low-cost carrier launched three inaugural flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, and Langkawi.

Coastal destinations

MYAirline is strengthening its presence in Malaysia's domestic market with plans to launch once-daily flights between Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) and Tawau on the southeast coast, the administrative center of the Tawau Division, from January 21, 2023.

Meanwhile, once-daily flights to the coastal city of Miri in northeastern Sarawak will be offered from March 1, 2023. From March 15, 2023, the number of flights from Kuala Lumpur to Miri will be doubled and operate twice daily.

Rayner Teo, CEO of MYAirline, stated:

"We are excited to add more domestic routes, especially to Sarawak and Sabah. The new routes are in accordance with our mission to cultivate the growth of local tourism, especially in East Malaysia. We wish to support travel movements for Malaysians and tourists to travel to Sabah or Sarawak with affordable options - be it for work, family visits or holiday."

MYAirline currently offers flights to four destinations in Malaysia: Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi and Kota Bharu.

The airline also announced that it will increase the frequency of KLIA2 flights to Kota Bharu from twice daily to three times daily starting March 1, 2023.

MYAirline Kota Bahru
Photo: via MYAirline.

Domestic focus

MYAirlines was established in January 2021 and conducted its first flights less than a year later, on December 1, 2022.

The start of operations came after the airline announced in November that it had been granted a license to operate by the Malaysian Aviation Commission.

A newcomer to the Malaysian low-cost scene, MYAirlines is currently focused on expanding its presence in the domestic market in order to keep its flight range within four hours, as this is considered the sweet spot for low-cost flights.

However, the airline has set a target to expand its network across the ASEAN region by the second quarter of 2023, though it did not provide further details.

Airbus A320 - the backbone of MYAirline's fleet

The airline's entire fleet consists of three Airbus A320s, two of which (9M- DAB and 9M- DAG) were previously operated by Thai AirAsia, and the third (9M-DAC) is coming from Frontier Airlines in the United States, all of which are leased, according to Planespotters.net data.

The airline is currently waiting for its fourth Airbus A320, which is yet to be painted in its brand-new red and gray livery, according to MYAirline's CEO.

Like most other airlines, MYAirline has ambitious plans to add 50 Airbus A320 aircraft with 180 economy seats to its fleet over the next five years.

In an interview with the New Straits Times, Teo said

​​"We're an LCC, and one of the fundamentals of an LCC is to keep a single-family type (of aircraft) and also keeping to a narrowbody fleet. We've opted for the Airbus family of the A320 narrowbody aircraft, and we felt that that was the best aircraft for us."

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.