PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said while the government is open to the possibility of selling Malaysian Airlines Bhd (MAB), it was also important to ensure that its identity as the national carrier is retained.

“We’d like to sell Malaysian Airlines but we have to retain the identity as Malaysia Airlines,” he said on the sidelines of the 33rd Asia-Pacific Roundtable.

The government has injected billions of ringgit over the years to turn the ailing airline to profitability, but the carrier continues to remain in the red.

Dr Mahathir said Putrajaya must now tread carefully on efforts to resuscitate the airline.

“This time we have to be a little bit more careful on the steps we take to resuscitate Malaysian Airlines.

“It is not just the change of management, a lot of other things are wrong with the airline that needs to be corrected,” he said.

Debate has raged over whether the government should continue pumping money into MAB or sell it.

Dr Mahathir had said selling was an option.

In 2014, sovereign wealth fund Khazanah National Bhd, the airline’s main shareholder, pledged to pump in RM6 billion to save the carrier, which has been struggling financially since the 1990s.

Prior to the 2014 turnaround plan, the carrier received RM17.4 billion in several bailout attempts. – June 25, 2019.