<p>Malaysia Airlines will have to shut down if its lessors decide not to back its latest restructuring plan, the airlines' group chief executive was quoted as saying on Saturday.</p>.<p>A group of leasing companies has rejected the airline's restructuring plan, bringing the state carrier closer to a showdown over its future, Reuters reported on Friday.</p>.<p>Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Izham Ismail said the group would have "no choice but to shut it down" if lessors decide against backing the restructuring plan.</p>.<p>"There are creditors who have agreed already. There are others still resisting, and another group still 50:50," Izham said in an interview with The Edge weekly.</p>.<p>"I need to get the 50:50 ones (on board) with those who have agreed. I understand quite a sizeable amount of creditors have agreed."</p>.<p>Izham said the plan was to restructure the airline's balance sheet over five years, achieving break-even in 2023 on the assumption that demand in the domestic and Southeast Asian markets returns to 2019 levels by the second and third quarters of 2022.</p>.<p>The plan will also require a fresh cash injection from shareholder, state fund Khazanah Nasional, to help the airline over the next 18 months.</p>.<p>Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the airline's parent company, did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.</p>.<p>Lessors claiming to represent 70% of the airplanes and engines leased to the airline group have called the plan "inappropriate and fatally flawed" and pledged to challenge it, according to people familiar with the matter and a letter from a London law firm seen by Reuters.</p>.<p>Izham said the lessors will need to make a decision by Oct 11, so that the airline can decide whether to proceed with its restructuring plan or "execute Plan B".</p>.<p>Izham said Plan B could involve shifting Malaysia Airlines' air operator's certificate (AOC) to a new airline under a different name, or leveraging on the AOCs of sister airlines Firefly and MASwings.</p>.<p>"If you ask me, is Plan B credible? Of course, it is. We have all the skills sets in place."</p>
<p>Malaysia Airlines will have to shut down if its lessors decide not to back its latest restructuring plan, the airlines' group chief executive was quoted as saying on Saturday.</p>.<p>A group of leasing companies has rejected the airline's restructuring plan, bringing the state carrier closer to a showdown over its future, Reuters reported on Friday.</p>.<p>Malaysia Airlines group chief executive officer Izham Ismail said the group would have "no choice but to shut it down" if lessors decide against backing the restructuring plan.</p>.<p>"There are creditors who have agreed already. There are others still resisting, and another group still 50:50," Izham said in an interview with The Edge weekly.</p>.<p>"I need to get the 50:50 ones (on board) with those who have agreed. I understand quite a sizeable amount of creditors have agreed."</p>.<p>Izham said the plan was to restructure the airline's balance sheet over five years, achieving break-even in 2023 on the assumption that demand in the domestic and Southeast Asian markets returns to 2019 levels by the second and third quarters of 2022.</p>.<p>The plan will also require a fresh cash injection from shareholder, state fund Khazanah Nasional, to help the airline over the next 18 months.</p>.<p>Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), the airline's parent company, did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.</p>.<p>Lessors claiming to represent 70% of the airplanes and engines leased to the airline group have called the plan "inappropriate and fatally flawed" and pledged to challenge it, according to people familiar with the matter and a letter from a London law firm seen by Reuters.</p>.<p>Izham said the lessors will need to make a decision by Oct 11, so that the airline can decide whether to proceed with its restructuring plan or "execute Plan B".</p>.<p>Izham said Plan B could involve shifting Malaysia Airlines' air operator's certificate (AOC) to a new airline under a different name, or leveraging on the AOCs of sister airlines Firefly and MASwings.</p>.<p>"If you ask me, is Plan B credible? Of course, it is. We have all the skills sets in place."</p>