Malaysia Airlines will take over the country's rural air services from its rival budget carrier, a senior minister said Wednesday.

Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy said the national carrier's low cost unit Firefly which operates a Fokker-50 aircraft will replace Fly Asian Xpress Sdn Bhd in Sabah and Sarawak.

"The government is responsible for the rural air services, so we will (now) appoint Malaysia Airlines to manage it through Firefly," Chan was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency after the weekly Cabinet meeting.