KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): Malaysia Airlines Bhd's outgoing chief executive officer Peter Bellew today said it is not any alleged interference from Khazanah Nasional Bhd in his job, but rather love for his own 'negaraku', that is pulling him back to Ireland's RyanAir.

In a personal emailed statement today, Bellew, who is slated to rejoin Irish airline Ryanair on Dec 1 as its chief operations officer, said he got a call from Ryanair late evening two weeks ago to be its COO. It was shortly after a press conference where he expressed his commitment to Malaysia Airlines when asked to comment on speculation he would rejoin Ryanair.

"It is Ireland’s greatest company. They need my help and there is a big challenge. It is a form of national service. When I was asked on 27th Sept would I go to Ryanair I said no.  But a week later, the call came and in life we can really never say never. I am looking forward to being close again to my family and friends 14 hours away in Ireland," said Bellew.

Bellew was referring to what he told a press conference on Sept 27, when he was asked to comment on speculation that he would rejoin Ryanair.

He also rubbished a news report claiming his exit from Malaysia Airlines was due to owner Khazanah's interference.

"Let me be clear. Khazanah is a Malaysian investment company linked to the government. They have been incredibly supportive to me personally and corporately. I tried to be transparent on a daily basis, included them in most significant meetings and dragged their staff to work for us! It has worked well. There has been no interference. Although possibly I drove Khazanah mad with my constant questions and wish for consensus. I cannot thank them enough for accelerating our transformation. Tan Sri Azman could not have been more supportive. Terima kasih Khazanah," he said, referring to Khazanah managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar.

He added: "People always ask me how do I cope with government interference. There has been none for me. Zero interference."

He also highlighted that Malaysia Airlines is "special". Although it is a tough job to fix it, he said success is near.

"It is not just an airline but one of the earliest symbols of the vibrancy of this amazing country. People who have never flown in their life love it.  Most of the country hopes it will thrive and be the pride of the nation again. It is a tough job to fix it.

"Success is just within our grasp. Just another 4%-5% in revenue monthly and it should move to profits. Not always easy to gain but in the second quarter revenue increased 7%. The product is improving visibly: new widebody planes, new lounges, new loyalty program, new website and better operations in Kuala Lumpur. Still some work needed on the food! Lots done – lots more to do," he said.

He also urged Khazanah not to change the struggling national airline's brand. 

"Much work has been done globally through the media and travel agents to rebuild our heritage. People love what Malaysia Airlines stands for. The brand is now revived from China to the UK and down to Australia. That work must continue and will yield the 5% plus revenue growth," he added.

Earlier today, Khazanah issued a statement lambasting a New Straits Times report as "erroneous and misleading" for alleging that its meddling led to Bellew's decision to leave the airline.

"As provided for by the MAS Recovery Plan issued on 29th August 2014 and by the Malaysian Airline System Berhad (Administration) Act 2015, the restructuring of Malaysia Airlines follows a well laid-out governance and approval framework.

"The Malaysia Airlines Board of Directors and management submits it’s key plans to Khazanah as the sole shareholder and funder of the restructuring, and collectively, we have worked closely together to deliver the progress of the on-going restructuring to date.

"Khazanah also wishes to clarify that no Khazanah official was approached by the New Straits Times for comment prior to the publication of this speculative article."

The article with the headline “Khazanah meddling led to Bellew exit?” was written by NSTP group managing editor A Jalil Hamid and posted in the NST website at about 10pm last night. In the article, Jalil quoted an unnamed source as saying that Khazanah was "micro-managing" Malaysia Airlines, and that "there were cases where Khazanah bypassed the MAB (Malaysia Airlines) board".