This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 15, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The decision on whether or not Malaysia Airlines Bhd should proceed with the aircraft purchase agreement with Boeing Co can only be made after probes into the two air crashes are concluded, said Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

“We can’t decide now, we have no facts to work on,” said its managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan when approached by reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday. Khazanah is the sole shareholder of Malaysia Airlines.

“The authorities are going to see the results of the investigation and will be the one raising any issues.

“Malaysia Airlines needs to understand the technical investigation and see whether it needs to respond to that,” said Shahril.

On Tuesday, Economics Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said he has requested Khazanah to review the aircraft purchase agreement the national carrier signed with Boeing.

He said the agreement must be reviewed in light of safety concerns arising from the two air crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in Indonesia and Ethiopia within a span of less than five months.

Malaysia Airlines had ordered 25 Boeing 737 MAX 8 in 2016. The following year, Boeing and Malaysia Airlines announced that 10 of the planes will be converted to 737 MAX 10s.