MAS, AirAsia all set to ink partnership deal
By Shahriman Johari, Azura Abas and Masami Mustaza
news@nst.com.my
The announcement is likely to be made by the government this week, by Wednesday at the latest, said a source close to the deal.
"It's a done deal and it would mean we could compete better," he added.
The Edge business weekly magazine, which also quoted unnamed sources, said the two could form a "working partnership".
This would involve Khazanah Nasional Bhd having stakes in both MAS and AirAsia's major shareholder, Tune Air Sdn Bhd.
Khazanah Nasional Bhd declined to comment.
With the possible partnership between MAS and AirAsia, the combined fleet size will be 179 aircraft.
According to the data in planspotter.net, MAS has 96 aircraft, 18 under FireFly while AirAsia has 54 and AirAsia X operates 11 aircraft. Singapore Airlines has 106 aircraft.
More destinations will also be covered should MAS and AirAsia pool their resources.
To date, MAS flies to 88 destinations and AirAsia to 74 cities. Singapore Airlines, however, operates passenger services to more than 60 cities in more than 80 countries.
It is learnt that MAS will swap shares with AirAsia in a move that could see AirAsia chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes getting a 20 per cent stake in the national carrier.
This will allow both Malaysian carriers to rationalise their fleet frequencies and destinations within the country and abroad while ensuring MAS returns to becoming a premier airline.
About a month ago, MAS surprised the market when it reported a first-quarter operating loss of RM267 million. This had led many analysts to forecast a net loss for the airline in the current financial year.
MAS also hired Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof as its new chairman from Aug 1 this year.
He was picked to be the airline's managing director in 2001 when it was near collapse and helped to push through a massive revamp to put the airline on a stronger footing.
Another major airline in the region, Cathay Pacific, has 127 aircraft and flies to more than 111 destinations worldwide.
Read more: MAS, AirAsia all set to ink partnership deal http://www.nst.com.my/articles/04kkas/Article/#ixzz1UK8EXnks
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