This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 21, 2026 - September 27, 2026

TAN Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, a veteran of the country’s aviation industry, has stepped down from the boards of Malaysia Airlines Bhd and its parent Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG) after completing a two-year term as a non-executive director. He joined the boards in August 2024.

Bashir Ahmad had spent 29 years with the former Malaysian Airline System Bhd, beginning as a management trainee in 1972 and eventually becoming its executive vice-president. From 2001 to 2003, he acted as an aviation adviser to the Ministry of Transport. He then became the longest-serving managing director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd — from 2003 to 2014 — and subsequently as its adviser until 2017.

Recent changes at Malaysia Airlines and MAG also include the departure of Wong Shu Hsien, who had served as a nominee of sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd on the two companies’ boards since November 2021.

Meanwhile, Azmir Zain, an executive director and head of connectivity (airlines) at Khazanah, has been appointed a non-executive director of Malaysia Airlines and MAG, filling the seat vacated by Wong. Azmir was previously the chief operating officer of the now-defunct Malaysian Aviation Commission from April 2016 to August 2020 and was senior director of investments at Ekuiti Nasional Bhd from 2022 to 2025.

It is worth noting that Jens Bischof has been added to the boards of Malaysia Airlines and MAG. He was appointed a non-executive director in July.

Bischof is president of the German Aviation Association and vice-chairman of SunExpress Airlines. He also serves on the advisory board of HanseMerkur Insurance in Germany. Previously, he was CEO and chief commercial officer of Eurowings, the value airline of Lufthansa Group.

With the latest changes, MAG president and group CEO Captain Nasaruddin A Bakar is the sole executive director on the eight-member boards of Malaysia Airlines and MAG. The other directors are Azmir, Bischof, Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Tan Sri Krishnan Tan Boon Seng, Cheryl Goh Ching Ling, Datuk Zaiviji Ismail Abdullah and Faridah Bakar Ali.

Eysa Zulkifli and Adeline Khoo Suet Ling, both investment directors at Khazanah, serve as alternate directors of MAG.

Nasaruddin, better known as Captain Nasa, took the helm at MAG on Feb 1, succeeding Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, who stepped down after more than eight years in the role. Captain Nasa takes over MAG just as the airline industry is grappling with soaring jet fuel costs stemming from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Meanwhile, two years on, MAG’s chairman position remains vacant following the retirement of Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin in September 2024.

Wan Zulkiflee had chaired Malaysia Airlines and MAG since July 2020. He previously worked for Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) for 37 years, including as its president and group CEO from April 2015 to June 2020. He was also on PETRONAS’ board from August 2007 to June 2020.

Amirul Feisal, Khazanah’s managing director, joined the boards of Malaysia Airlines and MAG as a non-executive director in November 2024. Faridah, Khazanah’s chief financial officer, has served on the boards since July 2022.

Tan is the longest-serving current director of Malaysia Airlines. The former managing director and non-executive chairman of IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM) joined the boards of MAG and Malaysia Airlines in January 2016. He had served as an independent director of Malaysian Airline System from 2011 until the carrier was restructured in 2014.

Goh, group vice-president of marketing and sustainability at Grab Holdings Inc, joined the boards in June 2021. Zaiviji Ismail was appointed a non-executive director in March 2022.

Khazanah took Malaysian Airline System private in 2014 as part of a restructuring of the loss-making national carrier, paying RM1.38 billion to acquire the shares it did not already own.

In 2021, Khazanah injected RM3.6 billion into the restructured Malaysia Airlines to support the group’s operations through 2025. That brought Khazanah’s cumulative capital injections into the national airline since 2001 to RM31.6 billion.

Khazanah currently owns 83.58% of MAG. Turus Pesawat Sdn Bhd — a special-purpose government-owned unit of the Minister of Finance Inc — holds 12.94%, while pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) owns the remaining 3.48%. 

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.