KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) reiterated today that it has not received any commitment by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd for a RM5 billion fund to ride out the current drop in flight bookings due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The national carrier was clarifying a Bloomberg news report earlier today that suggested Khazanah may inject as much as RM5 billion into MAB to ensure the airline survives the financial bleed caused by the coronavirus outbreak worldwide.
“Khazanah Nasional being our sole shareholder has been supportive of our efforts to address and cope with the impact of the Covid-19 crisis to Malaysian Airlines Group.
“As we are currently realigning our Long-Term Business Plan to the changing aviation landscape, we are in continuing discussions with Khazanah on the level of support needed moving forward,” MAB said in a statement this evening.
MAB said the Bloomberg report had not carried its statement in full.
In its report, Bloomberg had quoted MAB saying that it would utilise the fresh capital to resume some operations it has suspended, adding that the cash infusion could take place in the coming weeks if approved.
MAB said it has taken some hard measures to contain the impact of the crisis, including undertaking negotiations with aircraft lessors and vendors to manage payments and financial obligations as well as offering unpaid leave and inducing a salary cut of between 10 to 35 per cent among employees in order to sustain its cash flow.
“This is to protect those in the lower income bracket, and to avoid possible job cuts in our effort to trim costs further.
“A number of business investments have also been put on hold in view of the crisis. We’ve also proactively removed capacity to manage our cost effectively,” it added.
Earlier this week, MAB said it has increased the frequency of its domestic flights beginning June and will resume some of its international flights in July to facilitate essential travels locally and as other countries begin to lift border restrictions.
It had cancelled flights, deferred non-critical spending and cut costs since the onset of the crisis earlier this year.
