MASwings (MY, Kota Kinabalu) The state governments of Sabah and Sarawak have abandoned plans to acquire MASwings (MY, Kota Kinabalu) from Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg has said.

Speaking to The Borneo Post this week, Openg said the two governments had negotiated the purchase in good faith with state-owned Malaysia Airlines. However, despite their best efforts, airline management's dalliance in making a decision ultimately brought the deal to a dead-end.

“Because of ding dong, ding dong [sic], we decide to forget about it – after all we have alternatives," he said. "Yes, it was our intention before to take over MASwings, but since they make it so difficult, we just forget about it.”

The original proposal entailed either government owning 50% of the carrier which would then be oriented towards the southeast Asian tourism market on which both states' economies are heavily dependent. Among the destinations touted were southern China, Hong Kong and the so called BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-The Philippines and the East ASEAN Growth Area).

MASwings currently operates ten ATR72-500s, four ATR72-600s, and six DHC-6-400s on scheduled passenger flights to remote destinations throughout Malaysia as well as to Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei and Tarakan in Indonesia.