The managing director of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) says the state-owned company does not require any fresh capital injections and is always canvassing new aircraft options, including from manufacturers such as COMAC. Izham Ismail also said rising costs, including those resulting from ongoing trade disputes, would have some impact on the group.

Ismail was speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur this week after MAG reported a net profit of MYR54 million ringgit (USD12.2 million) for calendar 2024. MAG operates Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, Amal by Malaysia Airlines, and, for the time being, MASwings (MY, Kota Kinabalu). The result was a 90% decrease on 2023's net profit. Ismail said the results would have been better but for capacity cuts, supply chain disruptions, extended maintenance times, and new aircraft delivery delays.

MAG's "guiding principle" is to be financially independent, he said, adding, “We don't want capital injections." The group is wholly owned by Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional sovereign wealth fund. It closed 2024 with a cash balance of MYR3 billion (USD680 million).

He said rising costs, particularly for aircraft components, which may be subject to tariffs when shipped from other countries to the US, was an issue. "Naturally, there will be cost pressures," he said. "The cost of sales will go up."

Flagship subsidiary Malaysia Airlines has 98 aircraft on order, including forty-four at Boeing, which taps suppliers worldwide for components to build its aircraft in the US. Malaysia Airlines hopes to be operating fifty-five B737 MAX by the start of the next decade. The company also expects delivery of twenty A330-900Ns by 2028, including eight by the end of 2025. It presently has two of the type in service, both recently received.

Open to COMAC

Ismail added that MAG was looking at COMAC aircraft and was open to ordering them in the future. "We remain open to all manufacturers, provided they align with our product strategy and long-term ambitions,” he said.

In recent weeks, authorities in Laos and Viet Nam have approved their airlines operating COMAC aircraft. Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Malaysia for an official visit last week and signed a raft of trade and investment agreements, including an agreement for support for Chinese-made aircraft sales. Jinping's first visit to Malaysia in a decade was part of a three-country tour designed to counter the new US tariff regime.

Separately, Ismail confirmed that MAG was due to hand over MASwings to the Sarawak state government by January 1, 2026. The Group had received annual subsidies of approximately MYR10 million (USD2.27 million) from the Malaysian government to operate essential public service routes in Sarawak and Sabah as well as operating a handful of commercially viable routes.

“It is a zero-sum game to us,” Ismail said of the MASwings transfer.