MEASURES are being considered to prevent the collapse of major airlines to avoid disruptions to the country’s connectivity and potential economic fallout, says Anthony Loke (pic).
The Transport Minister said the study on the measures follows reports of possible government assistance for low-cost carrier AirAsia amid concerns over its financial health following a spike in jet fuel prices.
“This is indeed something we are discussing at the government level. We are looking at how to ensure the aviation industry remains sustainable.
“Our priority is to ensure that our national airlines continue operating and that connectivity is maintained, because if any major airline goes bankrupt, it could disrupt our connectivity.
“However, how to assist foreign airlines, private airlines and others is something that needs to be examined and studied. This is being looked into by the Finance Ministry and no decision has been made so far,” he said when winding up his ministerial debates on Budget 2027.
Loke said an airline’s collapse would not only cost its crew their jobs but also disrupt connectivity, with adverse consequences for the national economy.
“This matter is very much on the government’s radar, and we are doing our utmost to ensure it does not happen,” he said.
Earlier, during the question and answer session, Loke said more than 200,000 commercial vehicles are facing a shortage of approved workshops to install speed limitation devices (SLDs).
He said there are only 33 suppliers nationwide authorised to carry out the retrofitting, and this was one of the reasons the ministry decided to postpone the enforcement of the requirement for commercial vehicles.
“This is one of the reasons we decided to postpone enforcement for now,” he said when responding to a supplementary question from Tan Kar Hing (PH-Gopeng).
The requirement to install SLDs was introduced in phases from Oct 1, 2025, for designated categories of commercial vehicles to control the maximum speed of heavy vehicles and reduce the risk of accidents.
On June 30, the ministry announced a postponement of full enforcement of the SLD requirement, which was originally schepduled to begin on July 1.
Loke said the postponement did not mean the requirement had been cancelled or waived but was intended to give the industry sufficient time to complete the compliance process.
He said the ministry was finalising a dedicated legal framework governing SLD installation, verification and enforcement.
“The date for full enforcement will be announced to the industry in advance once these matters have been settled,” he added.
As of Oct 26, there were 106,651 recorded installations of verified SLDs out of 207,083 active vehicles, representing a compliance rate of 51.5%, he added.
For vehicles manufactured before 2015, which require retrofitting, only 34,514 out of 202,861 vehicles, or 17%, had recorded SLD installations.
