Who tells the truth? Late last week, Thailand’s newspaper The Nation told that the newly created Sarawak-owned AirBorneo had been allocated airport slots for a proposed Kuching-Suvarnabhumi route during the Winter 2026/2027 scheduling season.
Thailand Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAT) stated that the carrier received the authorization to fly twice a day from Kuching to Bangkok main international airport.
As soon as the information was revealed and reported also by Malaysian newspapers, AirBorneo clarified that it has not submitted an application for a direct Kuching-Bangkok service and that no such route has been formally confirmed at this stage.
In a statement issued to The Borneo Post, AirBorneo said while destinations across the region form part of its longer-term network planning, no application has been submitted for the recently mentioned Bangkok route.
“We appreciate and are thankful for the strong public interest in AirBorneo’s network expansion plans, and we can confirm that destinations across the region are part of our longer-term route planning.
However, we wish to clarify that no application has been submitted for the recently mentioned Bangkok route at this stage, as nothing has been formally confirmed,” the airline said.
AirBorneo added that any future international service would be subject to the usual regulatory and approval processes before any announcement is made.
“As with any new international service, any future route would need to go through the standard regulatory and approval processes before it can be announced. We would caution against treating any specific route, frequency, or schedule as confirmed until that process is complete,” explained the airline management.
AirBorneo also stressed that its immediate focus remains on strengthening its existing operations following service disruptions earlier this month on domestic routes. The carrier is due to receive its first three Boeing 737-800 aircraft in the third quarter of 2026 which will allow to fly to Kuala Lumpur but also Singapore and Jakarta. But not to Bangkok!
