The Malaysian government has announced plans to launch a new airline after signing a $1.5 billion deal with Bombadier for 20 new aircraft.
The airline will be called Flymojo and based out of Johor Bahru in the south of Malaysia and Kota Kinabalu in the north of the country.
Bombadier said it has signed a letter of intent for the sale and purchase of 20 CS100 aircraft with the option for 20 more.
According to Reutersthe airline will begin flying in the first quarter of 2016 and focus on regional routes.
Malaysia deputy minister of transport Aziz Kaprawi said Flymojo will play a key role in improving connectivity between the Malaysian peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak, as well as other parts of the region.
“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.
“Further strengthening Kota Kinabalu’s standing as a gateway into Malaysia, Flymojo will also boost tourism into Sabah and Sarawak,” he added.
The news follows comes after the country has had to deal with three aviation disasters over the past year.
In December, an Air Asia plane crashed into the Java sea killing 162 people, while en route from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore in December.
In July, a Malaysia Airline aircraft carrying 280 passengers and 15 members of crew has crashed in East Ukraine and the search for Malaysia flight MH370 continues in the remote south Indian ocean off western Australia. That flight, from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and with 239 people onboard, vanished on March 8.