MALAYSIA AIRLINES IDENTIFIED AMONG TOP THREE CARRIERS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines has been identified as
among the top three mainline carriers for 2009 after Singapore Airlines and
Lufthansa by Aviation Week's Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study of the global
airline industry.

Air Arabia tops the low-cost/niche carrier category while FedEx is the
highest-ranked freight carrier and Australia's Regional Express is the top
regional carrier, it said.

Aviation Week's TPC study of the global airline industry is the industry's
leading annual rankings and competitive analysis.

It said, a follow-up to last month's TPC Aerospace amd Defense rankings,
this year's airline analysis shows the effects of the recession on the industry
-- few airline business models are immune.

"The recession has grabbed hold of the airline industry, and survival is
still the name of the game," said Aviation Week and Space Technology
editor-in-chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr.

"This year's TPC review of airlines places liquidity and financial health as
the top indicators for weathering further volatility in the economy and rising
fuel prices.

"We are seeing sharp drops in scores across the board, in all regions, but
with the TPC rankings, we can identify those airlines that are doing things
right," he said.

Launched in 1996, Aviation Week's TPC study identifies relative strengths
and weaknesses in companies' operational performance and evaluates how well they
are executing business strategies.

Proprietary metrics have been refined over the past 13 years with input from
industry leaders to include scores in five performance categories: Liquidity,
Financial Health, Earnings Performance, Fuel Cost Management, and Asset
Utilisation.

The benchmarking tool and microsite are produced in partnership with
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
-- BERNAMA