Malaysia Airlines records profit in February, says Mueller

Malaysia Airlines Bhd has recorded a profit in February, which was its maiden positive monthly result in recent years, said its group chief executive officer Christoph Mueller.

In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press (AP), he said the airline remains optimistic to return to profitability by 2018.

"Our target is to break even by 2018. For a company that lost 2 billion ringgit ($511 million) just last year, if you are able to break even for a month or so, it means the financial gap between revenue and cost has significantly closed, and that is good news that tells us that we are on the right trajectory," he said.

However, Mueller admitted that the airline is facing some problems but he is confident that the monthly profit was a sign that things are on the right track.

Mueller said among main problems were high operating costs and archaic information technology systems.

He said Malaysia Airlines has been operating for six months and although the company has a long way to go and areas for improvement, it is making steady progress in the restructuring.

He added that the current focus of the airline is the Asian region.

Year 2014, proved difficult for the airline in which it had to face two disasters - the missing of flight MH370 and the gunning down of flight MH17.

Mueller was hired as the airline’s group CEO under a $1.5 billion overhaul that included the cutting of 6,000 jobs and axing unprofitable routes.