KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 17): Malaysia Airlines Bhd was caught off-guard by the announcement that its chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Bellew would be returning to Irish low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings Plc as the latter's chief operations officer (COO).

In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said it took note of the "unexpected announcement" by Ryanair regarding Bellew's return to the latter, and that its board of directors will meet on the issue, with an announcement to be made "in due course".

It also highlighted that Bellew had, during a press conference on Sept 27, expressed his commitment to Malaysia Airlines when asked to comment on speculation that he would rejoin Ryanair.

“He said that he was happy to be in Malaysia and that the turnaround of Malaysia Airlines would be ‘the greatest achievement of my life’,” the airline said.

With this development, Malaysia Airlines assured that its operations and services will continue as normal, and that its commitment and priority remains with its customers.

"The turnaround of Malaysia Airlines remains on track and on schedule, as per the MAS Recovery Plan," it added.

Earlier today, Ryanair issued a statement announcing that Bellew would be returning to Ryanair, and that the appointment will take effect from Dec 1.

It said Bellew will be taking 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".

Bellew, who was officially appointed as Malaysia Airlines CEO on July 1, 2016, was also quoted by Ryanair as saying that he was excited to return home and take up the challenge to grow Ryanair’s operations.

Irish media The Irish Times reported that Bellew’s return to the 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.

Bellew's return to Ryanair marks the second change in leadership of the national carrier in less than two years since Bellew’s predecessor, Christoph Mueller tendered his resignation in April, 2016.

Bellew joined Ryanair in 2006, and ascended the ranks to be director of flight operations before leaving to join Malaysia Airlines as COO in September 2015.