This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 30, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: A spokesperson representing Qatar Airways has clarified that the airline is not putting in a bid for the loss-making Malaysia Airlines Bhd.

“On behalf of my client, Qatar Airways, we would like to inform you that Qatar Airways is not putting in a bid for Malaysia Airlines,” the spokesperson wrote in an email yesterday.

The statement came in response to an article entitled “Getting the aviation reset right” recently published in The Edge Malaysia weekly, which identified Qatar Airways as one of four parties interested to take up a strategic investment in Malaysia Airlines.

Other bidders for the national carrier were Japan Airlines Co Ltd and China Southern Airlines, it reported, adding that interest from the fourth is said to have cooled, though this has yet to be confirmed.

Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali told Parliament previously that four bidders had been shortlisted to take up a strategic stake in Malaysia Airlines and that a decision would be made by early 2020 at the latest.

Allowing a private investor into Malaysia Airlines via strategic investment could mark the end of Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s 15 years of unsuccessful attempts to turn the airline around, although this will hinge on some key questions.

These include whether the government is prepared to cede management control — a potential deal-breaker given the state of Malaysia Airlines and why its past turnaround efforts have failed.