In early December, the newly appointed state-owned parent company of MASwings, Khazanah, announced that the airline would be reorganized and repositioned as a Low-Cost Carrier. The airline currently acts as a regional feeder airline for the Malaysia Airlines mainline operation. Malaysia Airlines, which suffered two fatal accidents in 2014, was recently re-acquired by the state in an attempt to restructure the airline and return it to profitability. As a part of this restructuring process, it has been noted that MASwings will be re-launched as an independent budget carrier. This process is reportedly planned to commence some time in 2015.

The European Union has released its latest review of the EU list of banned carriers. The list was established to assist European Union member states in identifying the level of oversight undertaken by a country’s civil aviation regulator and ensuring that the airlines under its oversight, adhere to internationally recognised safety standards. There have been no major amendments to the list, with the exception of all Libyan airlines, which have now been placed on the ban list due to the recent civil conflict and political unrest within Libya. As a consequence, all Libyan airlines are now banned from operating within European airspace until the regulator, or individual airlines, can demonstrate that they adhere to internationally recognised safety standards.

South Korean operator, Asiana Airlines, has been ordered by the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, to suspend operations to San Francisco as a penalty for its undershoot and tail-strike accident at San Francisco International Airport in July 2013. The ministry noted that this punitive action was undertaken due to the final investigation report determining that deficiencies in Asiana’s operations were the primary contributory factors that lead to the accident. The airline does have the option of determining when the ban will commence, which will most likely be aligned with the off-peak season.