Govt wants to sell Malaysia Airlines but retain its identity: Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR — Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday (June 25) that the government wants to retain the identity of Malaysia Airlines even if it were to sell the national flag carrier.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Dr Mahathir lamented that despite the government’s best efforts to turnaround the beleaguered Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), it has often failed.

“So this time, we had to be a little bit more careful in the steps we take to resuscitate Malaysia Airlines. It’s not just a change of management. Lots of other things are wrong with the airline which has to be corrected.

“Ya, we would like to sell MAS, but we have to retain the identity as a Malaysian airline,” he added.

However, he said the government must first ensure that the potential buyer could manage the airline well.

“We have changed their (Malaysian Airlines) leadership many times, each time, we were hoping they would do something to turn around the company but they failed... (so) now we want to sell it, but if we sell (it) to people who will fail again, it is not worthwhile.

“We (the government) need to be very careful about choosing the buyer,” he said during a session entitled ‘The Future of Malaysia and Asean’ with Bloomberg Television’s South-east Asia chief international correspondent Haslinda Amin, in conjunction with Asean Business Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday.

Last week, Bernama reported Dr Mahathir as saying that Malaysia is willing to consider selling if there is a good offer for the airline company.

The national news agency reported that when asked by the moderator about what would be the best option for Malaysian Airlines right now, Dr Mahathir said: “If there is a good offer, then we will consider (selling the airlines).” MALAY MAIL