Mention Malaysia Airlines and most peoples’ thoughts will turn to the enduring mystery of the disappearance of Flight MH370 a decade ago and the tragic shooting down of MH17 just months later. 

Now, after posting its first net profit in more than 10 years, Chief Executive Officer Izham Ismail wants to write a new chapter – shedding the carrier’s troubled past and transforming it into a well-run, consistently profitable airline. 

“The perception from the public is that this was a laid-back organization,” Izham, who is managing director of the carrier’s parent Malaysia Aviation Group, said in an interview. “But the new Malaysia Airlines is different, we are creating an organization that is hungry.” 

Izham said 2024 will be a “year of credibility” for the airline, as it seeks to prove that consecutive years of operating profit weren’t a fluke caused by the post-pandemic surge in airfares and travel demand. He then aims to turn Malaysia Airlines into a premium carrier by the end of the decade. 

Malaysia Airlines has undergone five turnaround programs since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and was delisted from Malaysia’s stock exchange and taken private by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd. after the twin disasters of MH370 and MH17 – in which 534 people died. 

The airline had turned to two foreign bosses – Aer Lingus Group Plc veteran Christoph Mueller and former Ryanair Holdings Plc executive Peter Bellew – to revive its fortunes, but both lasted about a year in their roles, before Izham, who has been with the carrier since 1979, took the reins in December 2017. 

The former pilot, who is generally addressed as ‘Captain’ by his colleagues and peers, led Malaysia Aviation Group – which derives most of its income from the carrier – to a 766 million ringgit ($161 million) net profit in 2023, its first since 2010. It also posted an operating profit in 2022. 

Underscoring its revival, the airline last month signed a multi-year deal to become English soccer club Manchester United’s commercial airline partner. Izham said the agreement was part of an existing marketing budget and came “dirt cheap,” but didn’t disclose the price. 

Now the longest serving chief executive in the airline’s history, the 63-year-old is “at the crossroads” on whether to continue after his contract expires in December. “But we have a pool of successors ready to take on my role at any time,” he said. 

Izham has built a C-suite leadership with an average age of 46, which he is banking on to provide “continuity” to the business plan he has put in place. 

That plan aims to have Malaysia Airlines among the world’s top 10 by the end of the decade, although Izham admits its current products are “inferior” to premium segment leaders such as Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Qatar Airways – which the carrier is looking to emulate. Both carriers have reported record profits after staging a faster comeback from the pandemic. 

With 5 billion ringgit, or just over $1 billion, in cash reserves, Izham said that the airline can start investing in its products – such as revamping its fleet, catering, and upgrading seats. It also has a further unused 2.3 billion ringgit of capital from Khazanah. 

In other highlights from the interview, Izham said:

The airline is looking to add at least another 25 narrowbody plane orders by the end of 2024, with the winning bidder to be named later this year

The carrier is also set to take up an option to add another 20 Airbus A330neo orders to its existing order of 20 planes. The first deliveries will begin this year

The airline is currently taking delivery of 25 Boeing 737-Max 8 jets through 2026

Carrier aims to have a fleet of 50 narrowbodies and 50 widebodies by 2033

There’s no “urgency” to relist, and the company would need three consecutive years of net profitability and to “consistently look pretty” before considering such a move. “The upside of being a private entity is that the decision making and execution is fast,” he said.

International market revenue share has grown to 85% from 55% since 2021, allowing the airline to hold 42% of its cash reserves in US dollars

The airline aims to increase frequency of flights to Australia, using Kuala Lumpur as a hub for passengers from Europe
 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

A company in the US has claimed that they have scientific evidence of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370’s final resting place. According to the Independent, Ocean Infinity, a marine robotics company based in Texas,  submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government for a new search in the southern Indian Ocean where the plane is believed to have crashed. 

The company’s chief executive officer Oliver Plunkett said, ”We now feel in a position to be able to return to the search for MH370, and have submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government. Finding MH370 and bringing some resolution for all connected with the loss of the aircraft has been a constant in our minds since we left the southern Indian Ocean in 2018.”

”Since then, we have focused on driving the transformation of operations at sea; innovating with technology and robotics to further advance our ocean search capabilities,” Mr Plunkett added. 

Notably, the company has proposed an all-new no-find, no-fee search. Ocean Infinity had last attempted to find the missing plane in 2018.

According to ABC7, Malaysia’s transportation minister says he’s invited Ocean Infinity to share its new evidence and has promised that, if it’s credible, he’ll push to greenlight a new search. 

The government has long said it would not support another search without new leads on the plane’s location.

Notably, flight MH370 with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board disappeared after leaving Kuala Lumpur Airport in southern Malaysia en route to Beijing, China, on March 8, 2014.  A nearly three-year search covering 120,000 square kilometres in the Indian Ocean found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up. Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found and the operation was suspended in January 2017.

On Sunday, relatives of passengers aboard the plane also pushed for a new search as they spoke of enduring grief and the struggle to find closure. About 500 relatives and their supporters gathered at a shopping centre near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for a “remembrance day”, with many visibly overcome with grief.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he would be “happy to reopen” the search for flight MH370 if “compelling” evidence emerged. 

Melbourne:

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Monday he would be “happy to reopen” the search for flight MH370 if “compelling” evidence emerged, opening the door to a renewed hunt a decade after the plane disappeared.
“If there is compelling evidence that it needs to be reopened, we will certainly be happy to reopen it,” he said when asked about the matter during a visit to Melbourne.

His comments came as the families marked 10 years since the plane vanished in the Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard.

“I don’t think it’s a technical issue. It’s an issue affecting the lives of people and whatever needs to be done must be done,” he said.

Malaysia Airlines flight 370, a Boeing 777 aircraft, disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found and the operation was suspended in January 2017.

About 500 relatives and their supporters gathered Sunday at a shopping centre near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for a “remembrance day”, with many visibly overcome with grief.

Some of the relatives came from China, where almost two-thirds of the passengers of the doomed plane were from.

“The last 10 years have been a nonstop emotional rollercoaster for me,” Grace Nathan, a 36-year-old Malaysian lawyer whose mother, Anne Daisy, 56, was on the flight, told AFP.

Speaking to the crowd, she called on the Malaysian government to conduct a new search.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke told reporters that “as far Malaysia is concerned, it is committed to finding the plane… cost is not the issue”.

He told relatives at the gathering that he would meet with officials from Texas-based marine exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which conducted a previous unsuccessful search, to discuss a new operation.

“We are now awaiting for them to provide suitable dates and I hope to meet them soon,” he said.

An earlier Australia-led search that covered 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 square miles) in the Indian Ocean found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)