SEPANG, Sept 3 — Malaysia Airlines Berhad’s move to cut the frequency of its flights to select destinations is a temporary measure aimed at addressing technical problems, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said today.

He gave an assurance that the issue will be resolved soon.

"They did not do it on a whim, as many technical issues were plaguing MAS, that they were forced to take this step by reducing flights for the next few months,” he told a news conference at Terminal Two of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport this afternoon.

MAS is the old acronym for Malaysia Airlines before March 2014; it has since switched to MAB.

Loke said the move is necessary so the national airlines can sent its existing fleet for maintenance

"Also, we expect that there will be new planes arriving in about one or two months,” he said, adding that this will help stabilise its operations.

For those traveling to Sabah and Sarawak, Loke noted that passengers can opt to fly on other airlines.

Malaysia Airlines announced a temporary reduction in its flight frequency for 13 international destinations departing from Kuala Lumpur last month.

Among them are Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok; Denpasar and Jakarta in Indonesia; Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Mumbai in India; Osaka in Japan; Incheon in Seoul, South Korea; Pudong in Shanghai, China; Singapore; Narita in Tokyo, Japan; and Yangon in Myanmar.