KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): Malaysia Airlines Bhd chief executive officer Peter Bellew is returning to Ryanair as chief operations officer (COO) after repeatedly denying such rumours since late September.

In a statement today, Ryanair said Bellew's appointment will take effect on Dec 1.

"Mr Bellew who is currently the CEO of Malaysia Airlines will take over responsibility for all Ryanair's flight operations, ground operations and engineering but with a specific responsibility for pilot production, training and career development with a mission to ensure that the pilot rostering failure which Ryanair suffered in early September will never be repeated," the airline said.

Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary said Bellew will lead a significant transformation upon appointment.

"We are pleased to welcome Peter back to Ryanair. Having worked previously in a senior role in our operations team, Peter has an unrivalled knowledge of our business model and how we maintain controlled growth, with industry leading punctuality, for the benefit of our customers and our people," he said.

"Peter will lead a significant transformation in the way we reward and interact with our pilots, improve their working environment and career development over the coming years as we grow the fleet to some 600 aircraft and expand our traffic, at lower fares, to 200 million customers per annum," he added.

Bellew, who was officially appointed as CEO of Malaysia Airlines on July 1, 2016, said he is excited to return home and take up the challenge to grow Ryanair's operation sustainably.

"I am excited to return home to Ryanair and take up the challenge to grow the operation sustainably. I look forward to working with all the team and all the crews I know so well to further develop our growth to 600 aircraft over the next six years," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

The Irish Times reported that Bellew's return to Ryanair comes after former COO Michael Hickey stood down recently following controversy over Ryanair's plans to cancel flights up to next March. The cancellations came following errors in the company's pilot rostering practices.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which wholly owns Malaysia Airlines, is yet to release any statement on the leadership change at press time.

This will be the second leadership change in Malaysia Airlines, which is in the midst of a RM6 billion turnaround plan, in less than two years.

Bellew's predecessor, Christoph Mueller, quit his three-year contract in April 2016, after having been in the job for just over a year.

Bellew joined Ryanair in 2006 and was promoted to director of flight operations before leaving to join Malaysia Airlines as COO in September 2015.