The Malaysian government has unveiled plans for a new airline called Flymojo.
The carrier will be based out of Johor Bahru in the south of the country and Kota Kinabalu in the east.
Local media reports suggest it may start operations in October.
The government has signed a $1.5 billion deal with manufacturer Bombardier for 20 CS100 aircraft, with the option to buy 20 more, which would make the deal worth $2.9 billion at list prices.
The launch of the new airline was announced today at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition, attended by Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Aziz Kaprawi, Malaysia's deputy minister of transport, said: "With Flymojo's primary hub at Senai International Airport, Johor and secondary hub in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the airline's ultra-modern fleet of CS100 aircraft will play a key role in improving connectivity between the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak, as well as other parts of the region.
"In addition, as the only airline utilising the southern corridor as its headquarters, Flymojo will transform Senai into a key regional aviation and logistics hub - augmenting the government's initiatives in developing Iskandar Malaysia and the southern corridor."
Flymojo will be the first airline in the region to operate CS100 aircraft, which seat up to 125 people.
Today's announcement follows a difficult year in aviation for Malaysia. National carrier Malaysia Airlines was hit by two tragedies in 2014 – the disappearance of flight MH370 in March and the shootdown of MH17 over Ukraine (see news, July 17). And Air Asia flight QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea in late December (see news, December 29).
Graham Smith
