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Move to split up Malaysia-Singapore Airlines caused MAS’s decline, says Izham
The Malaysia Aviation Group managing director said the 1972 decision set up MAS to fail on the very first day.Samuel Chua - 27 Feb 2024, 11:38pm

LANGKAWI: The emergence of low-cost carriers has not contributed to Malaysia Airlines’ decline, Malaysia Aviation Group managing director Izham Ismail said.
Rather, he blamed it on the 1972 decision by the Malaysian and Singapore governments to break up Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, into Malaysian Airline System or MAS (as it was known then) and Singapore Airlines.
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The Malaysian government wanted to develop a domestic network, while the Singapore government wanted more international routes, he said during a Q&A session at Routes Asia 2024, hosted by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and Tourism Malaysia.
He said in deciding to split these two airlines “we set up MAS to fail on the very first day”.
He did not elaborate.
MAG is the parent company of the present Malaysia Airlines.
Izham went on to say that a robust network was needed to make Malaysia Airlines competitive again.
And now after 32 months, it has funds which he said could be used to reinvest.
He said they were currently reinvesting in hardware such as seats and upgrading their in-flight dining and cabin services.
He also said that its partnership with MAHB, which operates the airports nationwide, was the key to its progress.
Saying MAHB was making progress at KLIA and was on the right track, he hoped things would move faster so that travellers would want to stop in Malaysia.
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