The Malaysian state of Sabah will get its own carrier this September, which is when Sipadan Air has promised to debut in the domestic market with flights from its Kota Kinabalu base to Semporna, also in Sabah. Deploying two DHC-6s, the company, a subsidiary of Equus Air (Kota Kinabalu), is also expected to offer charter flights to Kudat and Ranau.

“Our business tagline is from the islands to the highlands,” Equus Air chairman Datuk Omar Ali Tun Sakaran told Malaysia's Daily Express, referring to the state's most popular destinations for domestic and foreign tourists, such as Mount Kinabalu.

The Twin Otters' maiden flights to Semporna will carry more than thirty Chinese tourists, he said, adding: “In fact, we’re fully booked the whole year round after that, where we will make daily flights between Kota Kinabalu and Semporna.”

After launching, the next step would be to acquire seaplanes to fly to some of the state's islands and marine locations, he said.

Capacity at Kota Kinabalu is currently dominated by AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International), which carried 5.73 million passengers there in 2018, up 23% year-on-year. According to the ch-aviation capacities module, AirAsia currently accounts for just under half of the frequencies at the airport (359 out of 741).