AirBorneo Airways (Malaysia) is considering selling its older ATR aircraft as the carrier prepares to renew its fleet with five ATR72-600 and three ATR42-600 between 2H 2027 and 2029

 The DHC6 aircraft will remain in the fleet for the next three to four years.

Aviator / Image: AirBorneo 

FLEET - AirBorneo (Malaysia) expects to have a fleet of about 14 to 15 aircraft as the carrier expands over the next five years.

AirBorneo plans to operate 17 jet aircraft by the end of 2030, however it will initially operate wet-leased B737-800s before introducing dry-leased aircraft from 2028.
CH Aviation

FLEET - AirBorneo to grow narrowbody fleet to 5 by YE26

 

AirBorneo (MY, Kuching) plans to more than double its narrowbody fleet from two to five aircraft by the end of 2026, chief executive Megat Ardian Aminuddin told Channel NewsAsia. He said the additional aircraft are due in October, November, and December.

Megat did not disclose the specific aircraft types the Sarawak-owned carrier intends to add or the destinations it plans to serve. However, he said it intends to expand beyond Borneo into Peninsular Malaysia, followed by other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets, and eventually southern China.

The airline is also considering increasing its recently launched Kuching-Singapore Changi service to as many as 3x daily, to facilitate business travel. It currently operates daily flights from Kuching to both Singapore and Kuala Lumpur International.

AirBorneo began jet operations from Kuching on July 20, 2026, initially serving Kuala Lumpur, before adding Singapore. As ch-aviation previously reported, it is wet leasing two B737-800s from Batik Air Malaysia, 9M-LCV (msn 41607) and 9M-LCZ (msn 41812).

At a media roundtable in early July, Megat said the carrier would expand from two wet-leased B737-800s to five jets by the end of 2027. He also outlined plans to transition the five aircraft to dry leases from 2028 and expand the fleet to 17 by the end of 2030.

AirBorneo inherited eight ATR72-500s and six DHC-6-400s when it assumed the operations of MASwings on January 1, 2026. It has separately ordered five ATR72-600s and three ATR42-600s for delivery between 2027 and 2029 to renew its rural air services fleet.

CH Aviation

FLEET / ROUTES - AirBorneo (Malaysia) will wet lease two B737-800 aircraft from Batik Air Malaysia for 18 months

 Plans for the airline's expansion into jet operations progressed in 2026, with services expected to commence in the third quarter of the year using three Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The initial network was planned to include routes from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Kota Kinabalu and Jakarta.

Flyingphotos AI

FLEET - AirBorneo wet leased 3 B737-800

AirBorneo (Malaysia) plans to launch regional jet operations from Kuching in July 2026 using three wet leased B737-800 aircraft, connecting to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Kota Kinabalu.

Photo: AirBorneo