No discussions on potential Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia merger

There have been no discussions with regards to the potential merger between Malaysia Airlines Bhd and AirAsia Bhd, Deputy Transport Minister Hasbi Habibollah told the Parliament today.

He added that currently, the merger of the two airline companies is only at the planning stage.

Hasbi said this in reply to a supplementary question on the merger from Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (PH-Ledang) during the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

Earlier on, he said the COVID-19 pandemic had adversely affected the nation’s airline industry, with statistics showing a downtrend in domestic and international passengers starting March 1, 2020.

Passenger demand had plummeted from 280,321 passengers per day in January 2020 to 7,500 passengers per day in May this year.

“Based on the projected Malaysian passengers traffic scenario this year, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) expects passenger traffic in June 2020 to decline to between 54.3 million and 56 million passengers, equivalent to a decrease of between 48.7 per cent and 50.3 per cent,” said Hasbi.

He said MAVCOM will continue to review the projection based on current developments, adding that the airline industry’s domestic and international sectors’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact is expected to take 18 months and three years, respectively.

-- BERNAMA