Students heading home to Sabah, Sarawak, or Labuan can now spend their RM400 FLYsiswa voucher on AirBorneo flights, after the Sarawak-owned airline joined the Ministry of Transport’s student flight subsidy scheme on 11 August.

AirBorneo is the fifth carrier in the scheme, joining Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Batik Air, and Firefly. The voucher can be redeemed until 30 November, and the flights you book with it must be flown by 31 December.

What The RM400 Voucher Pays For On AirBorneo

The voucher works like store credit. It covers economy tickets on domestic routes linking Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan, and you can use it across more than one booking. Whatever is left over after your first flight stays on the voucher for the next one.

AirBorneo started flying from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur twice daily on 21 July, with fares starting from RM375 one way. A student using the RM400 voucher on that fare would have RM25 left for another booking, while a more expensive ticket would require paying the difference yourself.

AirBorneo also flies the turboprop network it inherited from MASwings, covering towns such as Miri, Sibu, Bintulu, Lawas, Mulu, and Sandakan. For students travelling to smaller towns in East Malaysia, the voucher can also help cover the connecting flight home.

Who Qualifies And How To Check Your Eligibility

FLYsiswa is open to Malaysian students at public universities, polytechnics, community colleges, matriculation colleges, and teacher education institutes. For 2026, the Ministry of Transport widened it to cover the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Malaysian Energy Department Training Institutions, government-linked universities, and state-owned higher learning institutions. About 50,000 students are expected to qualify this year, up from 44,000 in 2025.

You can check your eligibility through the FLYsiswa Portal, where your details are matched against the eligibility list. The flight must also be between your place of origin and your place of study, so a student from Sarawak studying in Selangor may qualify, while a trip to another destination for a weekend break would not.

Once you are cleared, you redeem the voucher when booking through AirBorneo’s website or mobile app. You only apply once, so choose the airline that flies where you need to go before you register.

Extra Baggage And Free Date Changes For Student Bookings

AirBorneo said FLYsiswa bookings come with a larger baggage allowance and the option to change your travel dates either free or at a reduced fee.

Going home for the long break usually means carrying a term’s worth of belongings, and paying for extra kilos at the airport counter can wipe out RM100 or more of what the voucher saved you. 

Free date changes cover the other common problem, which is term timetables shifting or results coming out late after you have already booked. Rebooking a fixed ticket at walk-up prices costs more than the original fare.

Fares Rise Around Semester Breaks And Festive Seasons

Between 2023 and 2025, 119,790 of the 158,600 students eligible for FLYsiswa received the subsidy. If you qualify this year, check your eligibility early so the voucher does not go unused.

Since the voucher is worth a fixed RM400, cheaper fares will also make it go further. An RM300 ticket would leave RM100 for another booking, while an RM500 ticket would require you to pay the remaining RM100 yourself.

Fares can also be higher around semester breaks and festive seasons, so students who already know their travel dates should book before prices climb.

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