SEPANG, July 11 — Malaysia hopes to retain its seat in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council after a 15-year track record, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.

He said the Transport Ministry had to work hard for the next two months as Malaysia was seeking re-election for the sixth consecutive term on the ICAO Council for the 2022-2025 term.

"As a responsible and committed council member for the past five terms since 2007, Malaysia has always been an exemplary contributor to the international growth and development of civil aviation,” he told a press conference.

This was after attending the rebranding ceremony of Batik Air after 10 years of being known as Malindo Air and launch of the B737-8 to mark the beginning of its transformation, here, today.

Therefore, Wee urged the airline operators to continue adhering to and upholding the regulation standards as set by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and ICAO.

"We must consistently display our commitment to ensuring the strictest safety standards and place the passengers and crew as our paramount concern,” he said.

Malaysia, being an ICAO member since 1958, was first elected to the Council in 2007 and re-elected for the fifth consecutive term in 2019.

Wee said Malaysia would be attending the 41st Triennial Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation to be held in Canada from Sept 27 to Oct 13.

He said Malaysia had been working hard to seek the support of other countries and was committed as the Malaysian aviation industry had maintained a high standard and upheld the ICAO initiatives, namely, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Wee said that last month, Malaysia Airlines launched its first flight using SAF, which was a good start and although costing three times higher than the conventional jet fuel, it is a good alternative as fossil jet fuel supply would be depleted in future, while whether the SAF cost could be reduced was being discussed across the world.

"Malaysia has a lot of feedstock and biomass which can be explored. To me, this is a good start for our country and as an ICAO Council member, we have taken the initiative to start something which can be seen by the world. The ICAO initiative should be taken more seriously. In Malaysia, we have the potential to develop more in these areas,” he added. — Bernama