AIRASIA has denied that it is being investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over a kickback scandal with European aircraft maker Airbus, and vows to cooperate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

“At the outset, AirAsia wishes to clearly state that it was neither involved in any way whatsoever with the SFO’s investigation of Airbus nor given any opportunity to provide any information or clarification to the SFO,” it said in a statement today.

It denied news reports citing court documents that certain aircraft order agreements were “improperly” linked to a sponsorship of a sports team linked to its executives.

“AirAsia vigorously rejects and denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing,” it said.

The airline said it will cooperate with MACC and the authorities.

It added that it will monitor developments and review any allegation or  inference linked to or affecting the company and its executives.

AirAsia said purchase agreements for each aircraft were not made by one person but were evaluated by board members and took into account technical specifications, aircraft flight performance and operating economics.

“The superiority and reliability of the aircraft and increasingly attractive pricing being offered to maintain our competitive edge in the airline business were key considerations,” it said.

“As a customer of Airbus since 2005, AirAsia never made purchase decisions that were premised on an Airbus sponsorship,” it added.

“We also wish to emphasise that all negotiations and dealings leading to the signing of any aircraft purchase agreement have been undertaken directly with Airbus on an arm’s length basis, and without the involvement of any third parties or intermediaries.”

It said its executives had negotiated contracts in the interests of the company and in good faith.

The budget carrier said its involvement with Airbus was well-publicised and had brought branding and other benefits to the aircraft manufacturer.

AirAsia said internal assessment and approvals were done before  sponsorship for the sports team was approved by the board. 

“As AirAsia and its executives have no visibility on Airbus’ internal processes, we cannot comment on or be associated with any alleged failures or lapses on the part of Airbus to comply with its own policies or applicable legal requirements,” it said.

“In any event, AirAsia is aware that correspondence between the company and Airbus dating back more than a decade has been reported in the press without proper context or review, and we are concerned that views and opinions on the matter may have been formed unfairly and prematurely,” it added.

Court documents in the UK  named AirAsia and AirAsia X  as being the. recipients of a US$50 million (RM204 million) bribe from Airbus.

Documents in a multibillion dollar settlement between the aircraft manufacturer and anti-graft authorities in Britain, France and the US state that two directors of the low-cost carrier and its long-haul unit were paid the sum for Airbus to secure contracts through corrupt middlemen to sell its aircraft worldwide.

In the settlement, Airbus agreed to pay nearly €1 billion (RM4.5 billion) in the UK, €2.1 billion in France and €530 million in the US.

The documents, sighted by The Malaysian Insight, state that Airbus paid US$50 million (RM204 million) and offered US$55 million more to sponsor a sports team linked to two unnamed “key decision makers” at AirAsia and AirAsiaX. – February 1, 2020.