Malaysia's Firefly returns all B737-800s to parent

Sovereign wealth fund to retain Malaysia Airlines' ownership

The managing director of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, says it has no plans to sell the Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), parent entity of Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International).

Speaking about the airline while delivering Khazanah's 2022 financial results in Kuala Lumpur last week, Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said MAG was cash flow positive and the fund had no short-term plans to unwind its aviation investment. Khazanah took on MAG in 2014 and immediately put into place a MYR6 billion ringgit (USD1.36 billion dollar) five-year turnaround program. They backed that up in 2021 with a credit line of MYR3.6 billion (USD810 million) to assist Malaysia Airlines during the pandemic. At the results briefing, Zahir said MAG had drawn MYR1.3 billion (USD290 million) of that capital and confirmed that the sovereign wealth fund would hold onto 100% of MAG until at least 2025.

"It's a blessing for us that they're cash positive," he told media. "They seized the moment during the crisis fixing the balance sheet and making sure there's a focus...

Malaysia Airlines rethinks narrowbody strategy around Subang

Malaysia Aviation Group restructures into three divisions

Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), which includes Malaysia Airlines (MH, Kuala Lumpur International) among its subsidiaries, is to be split into three dedicated profit centres - airlines, aviation services, and loyalty and travel solutions. The re-organisation will establish MAG as a fully-fledged operating company overseeing group-level support functions and subsidiaries and involve significant executive leadership changes.

Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi becomes CEO of airlines, a portfolio that includes Malaysia Airlines, MASwings, Firefly, and Amal by Malaysia Airlines. CCOs will be drawn from each airline, including Nasaruddin A. Bakar from Malaysia Airlines, Hamdan Che Ismail from Firefly, Suresh Singam from MASwings, and Muhammad Najmi Mansor from AMAL.

Mohd Nadziruddin Mohd Basri becomes the CEO of aviation services, which looks after cargo, ground handling, training, and maintenance, and MRO. Entities in this portfolio include MABkargo, AeroDarat Services, MAB Academy and MAB Engineering. MABkargo will retain its own CEO, Mark Jason Thomas, while the other entities in the aviation services portfolio will be represented by COOs, including Ibrahim Salleh from AeroDarat Services, Aida...

Malaysia's AirAsia to open Subang base

AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) is expected to return to Kuala Lumpur's Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, informally known as Kuala Lumpur Subang, after being forced to quit the airport 21 years ago.

Speaking at a media conference on February 8, Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes said AirAsia has applied to base ten aircraft at the airport and recommence operations there. The move follows a Malaysian government decision to allow scheduled passenger carriers to use narrowbody aircraft as large as B737-800s and A320-200s at the airport, located just 24 kilometres from the centre of the city.

"I always have said that it is a waste of an asset," Fernandes told reporters. “A big city like Kuala Lumpur should have two airports." Until Kuala Lumpur International, known as KLIA, opened in 1998, Subang was Kuala Lumpur's primary airport. In 2002, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines were ordered to switch their operations to KLIA to boost traffic through that airport. Subang Airport is presently serviced by four passenger carriers - Firefly...