Petaling Jaya: Shutting down troubled Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is an option the government can consider in light of its repetitive legacy issues, said former Khazanah MD Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim.

“There are a lot of people saying that we may need to re-examine if we really need a national airline and I think we should look into it on whether we really need a national airline,” Sheriff said at the sidelines of the Malaysian Strategic Financial Outlook Forum organized by Asli.

“You must remember that MAS has been bailed out not just once but two or three times before and it will never be successful. You notice that after each bailout it will be alright for two or three years and then it starts again,” he added.

He said that it is not easy for the national carrier to be profitable and agreed that it may be better for these resources (money) to be deployed into more productive areas of the economy.

He noted that the government could profit instead from the potentially increased collection of airport taxes through MAHB when this area is opened up completely.

“It is not easy since we don’t have such a big market such as Singapore or Thailand,” he said.