Malaysia Airlines has shelved plans to join any airline alliance and will focus instead on seeking more bilateral pacts for landing rights, code sharing and joint marketing efforts, a report said today.

With the global aviation industry reconstructing after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the US, the Iraq war and the Sars epidemic, an airline alliance is no longer the flavour of the day, managing director Md Nor Yusof was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times .

The national carrier has been considering joining an alliance since 2000 which analysts said it would have allowed it to boost passenger traffic and expand its network without having to increase its fleet size.