Malaysia Air calls for level playing field if AirAsia gets aid

ANY financial aid given to struggling carriers such as AirAsia Group should be made available to other airlines to keep competition fair, the head of Malaysia Airlines said. 

“It has to be a fair playing field,” Group chief executive officer Nasaruddin A. Bakar said in an interview on the sidelines of the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines’ annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur. “If it’s given to one airline, it should be given to all other airlines as well.”

Bakar also said his airline is willing to step in to grow aggressively if its low-cost rival faces deeper operational problems, citing the need to maintain connectivity across the country as the national carrier.

Malaysian authorities have been mulling a range of measures to help AirAsia, which is facing growing challenges in the face of high jet fuel costs. The US-Iran war has roiled the global aviation industry, hitting weaker airlines, particularly those operating in the low-fare segment.

The budget carrier’s shares tumbled in September on a report the government had sounded out rival local carriers, including Malaysia Airlines, about stepping up in case AirAsia had to stop flying routes if its financial challenges worsened.

The Malaysian government had said in recent weeks that it had not yet agreed to any commitment for financial aid for the struggling airline.

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Malaysia Airlines “had a duty” to maintain connectivity across the country, Bakar said. The airline would need to ensure it had additional aircraft and crew, he said, adding it would only increase capacity if it was sustainable to do so safely and financially. BLOOMBERG