Umno Youth deputy chairman, Khairul Azwan Harun, wants Khazanah Nasional Bhd to appoint a local as Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) chief executive officer (CEO).

"MAS is a strategic national asset and with the RM6 billion that Khazanah had invested, MAS must be managed by a local who understand the culture, working style and the country's economic climate.

"The annoucement by Khazanah Nasional last Friday, that a foreign CEO will spearhead MAS has invited various perceptions that Khazanah is forced to depend on outside expertise," he said after chairing the Malaysia-China Youth Exchange

Programme 2014 dialogue today.

Khairul Azwan said Khazanah could have appointed outside help as consultant or adviser to collaborate with local experts to make MAS's recovery a success.

"Khazanah is able to find a local candidate who is better qualified and experienced in corporate administration recovery or to work together with Talent Corp and relevant agencies to find a local CEO," he said.

Khazanah on Friday named Mueller as the CEO-designate of the new company MAS (MAS NewCo) as well as a non-executive director of the MAS Board of Directors, effective Jan 1, 2015.

Mueller had turned around Ireland's loss-making national airline Aer Lingus within a year.

This was despite the intense competition from budget airline Ryanair Holdings plc, coupled with the soft market conditions in Europe.

- Bernama