Malaysian airline shares halted amid tie-up report

Trading in the shares of flag carrier Malaysia Airlines and upstart budget airline AirAsia was suspended on Monday, the country's stock market said, following reports of a share-swap plan. Local media reports have said the two sides had stuck a deal under which a company controlled by Malaysia-based AirAsia's flamboyant boss Tony Fernandes would gain 20 percent of the equity in its loss-making rival. The share suspension was made at the request of the companies, the Malaysian stock market said without offering any other details. The deal between fast-growing no-frills carrier AirAsia and ailing Malaysia Airlines was aimed at saving the national flag carrier, reports have said. It would allow Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia to combine their flight frequencies and destinations and increase their bargaining power with airports and aircraft makers, reports said. Both sides have declined comment on the swap plan since the reports emerged on Sunday. However, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund which owns about 70 percent of the flag carrier, said it would maintain its position as the single largest shareholder in MAS. Under the deal, Khazanah would get a stake in AirAsia, while Tune Air Sdn Bhd, which owns 26 percent of the budget carrier, would get the Malaysia Airlines stake. Tune Air is headed by Fernandes and another partner. Malaysia Airlines chairman Mohamed Munir Abdul Majid left the company last month as it restructures its top team in a bid to return to profit. It posted a first-quarter net loss due to rising fuel prices and a strengthening ringgit, the national currency. AirAsia, however, which is Southeast Asia's largest budget carrier, recorded a first-quarter profit. Fernandes took over the struggling formerly government-linked company in 2001 and it has expanded rapidly under his leadership. It is now Southeast Asia's largest budget carrier.