Malaysia Airlines: Banking on Emirates codeshares to cut losses

KUALA LUMPUR - Two years after Flight MH370 went missing, Malaysia Airlines said it had made "sustained progress" in overhauling its loss-making business but gave few details.

It has been six months since a restructured organisation began operations under CEO Christoph Mueller, who was credited with reviving Ireland's Aer Lingus. To stem further hemorrhaging at Malaysia Airlines, Mueller made drastic cost cuts, including slashing over 30 per cent of headcount and loss-making routes, and renegotiating contracts with vendors.

The flag carrier offered few clues in its latest quarterly update, other than to say that revenue per available seat kilometer, a measurement of passenger yield, had improved 10 per cent year on year in the second quarter.

One of the carrier's biggest problems was its high cost base relative to revenues. It had revenue of 0.20 ringgit ($0.05) per available seat km against a cost of 0.21 ringgit, state fund Khazanah Nasional, the carrier's parent, said in Aug. 2014 when it unveiled a five-year, 6 billion-ringgit restructuring plan.

"There is still plenty to be done but the group is working hard to ensure that Malaysia Airlines succeeds and prospers for the years to come," said Mueller in a news release on Friday. He added that the carrier, a member of the oneworld airline alliance, was looking for more partnerships like its codeshare deal with Emirates.

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