Runway length decides what can land in Sarawak. The state Ministry of Transport lists sixteen airports and airstrips, and they fall into four tiers: Kuching International at 3,780 metres by 46; three runways of 2,745 metres at Miri, Sibu and Bintulu; four of about 1,500 metres; and eight interior strips shorter than 850 metres, the smallest of them 548 metres. Much of what follows — the aircraft the state airline buys, the routes that carry a federal subsidy — is set by those numbers.

What each runway tier allows

The ministry's page gives runway dimensions, the operator, terminal capacity and, for four airports, a passenger figure with a year attached. In order of length:

  • Kuching International, 3,780m x 46m. The only runway in the state listed for the A380, B747 and B777, alongside the A320, A330, A350, B738, ATR72 and the DHC-6 Twin Otter.
  • Miri International, 2,745m x 60m. Listed for the A320, B737, ATR72 and DHC-6. Its passenger figure on the page, 2,363,080, is from 2014.
  • Sibu, 2,745m x 45m. Terminal capacity 1.8 million passengers a year, against 1,579,528 handled in 2018.
  • Bintulu, 2,745m x 45m. Capacity one million a year, 417,918 passengers in 2018.
  • Limbang, Mukah and Tanjung Manis at 1,500m, and Mulu at 1,507m. ATR72 and DHC-6 only. Limbang's terminal is rated at 250,000 a year and handled 49,181 in 2018.
  • Eight strips under 850m: Marudi (834m), Long Lellang (799m), Lawas (758m), Long Akah (679m), Bario (671m), Bakelalan (550m), and Long Banga and Long Seridan at 548m each. Every one is listed for the DHC-6 alone.

One row does not sit easily with the others. Bintulu's aircraft column names the A380 and B747, although the page gives its runway as 2,745 metres — the same as Sibu and Miri, which are listed for narrow-body jets and turboprops only. The column carries no date.

Who actually operates them

No Sarawak government body appears in the operator column. The four largest airports — Kuching, Miri, Sibu and Bintulu — are all operated by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. Limbang, Mukah, Mulu and the interior strips sit with Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd, with Bario listed jointly with MASwings. Tanjung Manis is the exception, operated by Tanjung Manis Development Berhad.

The fleet is built around the short strips

The Premier's Department set out the fleet in March 2025: eight ATR 72-500s and six DHC-6-400 Twin Otters. The Twin Otters are based in Miri and reach the 11 rural airports with short take-off and landing facilities across Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan, many with no road to them. The network ran to 22 destinations, Brunei included through a codeshare, with Kota Kinabalu and Miri as hubs. Lee Kim Shin, the Sarawak Transport Minister, said the ageing ATRs would be replaced with ATR 600 aircraft once their leases expired.

That order has since been placed. Bernama reported in February 2026 a firm order for eight aircraft — five ATR 72-600s and three ATR 42-600s — for delivery between 2027 and 2029, with purchase rights over four more. The eight ATR 72-500s currently flown were inherited from MASwings.

Which routes carry a subsidy, and which do not

This is the distinction that decides fares out of Sibu. Rural Air Services routes are flown under a public service obligation agreement with the federal government, which subsidises them; AirBorneo said in December 2025 that its fares were unchanged from MASwings levels and that its fare structure was calibrated around that subsidy, with a new RAS agreement still to be settled.

But three of Sarawak's busiest routes are not in that category. The federal Transport Ministry said in May 2026 that Kuching-Sibu, Kuching-Miri and Kuching-Bintulu are classified as intercity flights rather than Rural Air Services, on the basis of a 2017 Malaysian Aviation Commission review, because they connect two cities and are jointly operated by more than one carrier. The ministry's position was that "flights on these routes should not receive subsidies as they involve two cities". They are therefore open to commercial operation.

How the state came to own the airline

The sale and purchase agreement between Malaysia Aviation Group and the Sarawak government was signed on 12 February 2025, and from 1 January 2026 AirBorneo took full legal and operational responsibility for what had been MASwings. MASwings began on 1 October 2007 with four 50-seat Fokker 50s and four 19-seat Twin Otters, the Fokkers giving way to ATR 72-500s from 2009. It flew more than 430,000 flights and carried over 19 million passengers.

What is being built next

The replacement for Kuching International is planned at Tanjung Embang. The Premier's Department described the project in October 2025 as two runways, a main terminal building, high-technology systems and an international-standard access road, and listed it among three infrastructure agendas for implementation by 2030.

The siting was decided on airspace grounds rather than land. In January 2025 the Premier, Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg, said Tanjung Embang was chosen so that aircraft would take off and land within Malaysian airspace; the earlier option at Matang would have had aircraft passing through Indonesian airspace over Kalimantan, which he said could cause problems later.

None of it changes the arithmetic at the other end of the list: the eight strips under 850 metres still take one aircraft type, and the six Twin Otters serving them have no announced replacement.

Sources