Aviation
Missing Malaysian plane: Malaysia officials under pressure from China
KUALA LUMPUR — The crisis surrounding the missing Malaysian Flight 370 is looking to intensive as Senior Malaysian officials are growing increasingly frustrated and privately incensed at what they see as excessive pressure from China.
The search for the jet, which vanished in early March, is testing ties between the two countries in a year that their governments had earlier declared “China-Malaysia Friendship Year” to mark 40 years of diplomatic relations.
Two-thirds of the 227 passengers aboard the flight were Chinese, and some of their family members have led a wave of criticism of Malaysia—with the Chinese government’s tacit support—putting Kuala Lumpur on the defensive.
Many of the passengers’ relatives do not believe the official account that the plane was lost at sea and accuse Malaysia of hiding what really happened. Some of the Chinese residents have taken part in protests in that would have been impossible if directed at their own government, including marching in the streets of Beijing carrying signs with slogans such as: “Malaysia Airlines, You Owe Us Answers!”Publicly, Malaysia has tried to placate angry relatives by sending high-level officials to meet with them. But privately, Malaysia is upset that China has allowed such an aggressive approach. Officials see it as hypocritical for China to be demanding that another government be more transparent.
“There is a growing feeling on the Malaysian side that this is a cynical ploy to exploit families in order to deflect attention from China’s domestic political concerns,” said one person close to the investigation in Malaysia.
The Chinese families have been through an emotional wringer and don’t see it that way. The actions of Chinese relatives have been “purely initiated by family members ourselves,” said Steven Wang, who joined last week’s protest. His mother was on Flight 370.
Ei Sun Oh, a Malaysian and senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said that if the majority of passengers had been U.S. citizens, Americans “would voice dissatisfaction, but they would go to court and sue Malaysia left and right.” Beijing appears to be eager to distract attention from its own limited capacity to find the airplane by allowing protests to take place, he said. “What the Chinese government fears the most is its own population turning its anger against them.” Roderic Wye, associate fellow at the U.K. think tank Chatham House, says that China is also trying to manage its reputation on the international stage. “It is a matter of considerable pride for the Chinese government to show that it can stand up and protect its citizens overseas,” Mr. Wye said. “They haven’t been able to show that.”
A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, Hong Lei, said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal that finding Flight 370 is the priority. “The Chinese side will continue to cooperate closely and communicate with the Malaysian side,” he said, adding that China had spared no effort to assist in the search.
On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pressed Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott during a telephone call that the Australian-led search operation “should not be relaxed, much less abandoned,” the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Huang Huikang, China’s ambassador to Malaysia, said in a briefing to local media Wednesday that China’s government felt “gratitude” for the Southeast Asian country’s efforts but said that Malaysia had shown inadequacy in some operations and in coordinating different departments, as well as releasing contradictory and inconsistent information.“But it is a very big disaster and nothing is perfect,” Mr. Huang said. “We can’t pass all the responsibilities to the Malaysian government. … I personally feel that the Malaysian government has put in its greatest efforts.”
The Malaysians have been meeting the families constantly. On Wednesday morning, representatives from 18 Chinese families met with a high-level Malaysian group of officials including technical experts and police, led by department of civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman. The families had arrived Sunday to demand that Malaysia tell them the truth about the aircraft’s fate.
Flight 370 has not been seen since the early hours of March 8 when it lost contact with air traffic controllers on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. Officials believe it crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, thousands of miles off course. Mystery still surrounds why it went off course and investigators have focused on the crew, but no motive has been found for what Malaysian authorities have termed “deliberate action” in flying the plane and cutting off its communication systems. China is keen to show itself as a superpower but has been unable to match the technology provided by the U.S. and other nations to search for the missing aircraft, although it has sent several ships and planes and provided satellite imagery.
A Chinese military analyst, Wang Xiaoxuan, director of the Naval Research Institute of the People’s Liberation Army, wrote an editorial Wednesday in the China Daily newspaper that said the search has highlighted his country’s “lack of professional equipment,” including undersea probes and satellite tracking.
“There is certainly pressure on the Chinese government,” Mr. Wye said, “and it does help to a certain extent if [Beijing] can shift some of that pressure away from the Chinese government to the Malaysians.”
Despite the spat, however, the long-term impact is likely to be small, say analysts. “The foundation of the bilateral relationship stays the same,” said Huang Jing, director of Centre on Asia and Globalisation at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, who added that the countries have strong economic ties. However, he said, “the situation will remain tense as long as the plane is missing.”
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has welcomed efforts to promote safe helicopter services across Africa in a proposed Regional Action Plan (RAP).
The plan, according to a company statement, is the highlight of a workshop organised in Lagos within the week by the Aviation subcommittee of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) in partnership with London-based safety advocacy group, HeliOffshore.
Biztellers reports that the two-day Offshore Helicopter Industry Safety Workshop (OHISW) with the theme “Developing a Regional Action Plan,” followed on from a similar session last year which SNEPCo sponsored.
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It also provided administrative and logistical support for this year’s conference which was sponsored by ExxonMobil. SNEPCo, which pioneered Nigeria’s deepwater production at Bonga in 2005, relies on helicopter shuttles for operations and supports the workshop as part of its contributions towards safe services in Nigeria.
In an address at the opening session delivered by General Manager Contracting and Supply Chain, Charles Oranyeli, Managing Director SNEPCo, Ronald Adams said: “By developing a regional action plan, we can move beyond dialogue to alignment, ensuring that the safety leadership, industry standards, and collaborative approaches championed last year are embedded in a common roadmap for collective improvement. The most effective solutions will come not from isolated efforts, but from partnership, standardization, and coordinated action across the region.”
The workshop was attended by more than 80 representatives from oil and gas companies, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), helicopter operators and original equipment manufacturers.
The event concluded with participants deciding action items for the proposed Regional Action Plan including Search and Rescue (SAR) initiatives, implementation of IOGP Report 690 standards and establishment of formal industry leadership forums.
The IOGP has been active for over 50 years, supporting its more than 90 members around the world to promote “excellence in safe, efficient and sustainable energy.”
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has declared that airlines operating in Nigeria have come under financial pressure following a sharp increase in the price of Jet-A1, also known as aviation fuel.
According to the group, the price of aviation fuel, has surged to about N1,800 per litre in many parts of the country, from about N1,000 per litre two weeks ago. This amounts to almost an 80 per cent increase within a short period.
Aviation fuel remains the largest cost component in airline operations, accounting for about 30 to 35 per cent of total operating expenses.
Industry stakeholders have linked the latest spike to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has pushed up global energy prices.
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Speaking on Channels Television on Friday, the spokesperson for the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Prof Obiora Okonkwo, said the surge had placed airlines under severe financial strain.
According to him, most carriers have so far refrained from immediately transferring the additional cost burden to passengers, despite the pressure on their operations.
“Two weeks ago, we were getting Jet-A1 at about N1,000 per litre, which today is about N1,800, and even more in some stations. We have experienced an increase of about 80 per cent. That’s quite a spike,” Okonkwo said.
He explained that airlines were currently absorbing the losses in order to avoid worsening the economic burden on the travellers.
“We are not in a business where you can easily adjust your ticket price. Right now what we are doing is that we are bleeding. We are taking the blow. We are selling tickets at very non-profitable prices. We are losing a lot of money,” he said.
Okonkwo warned that the situation might not be sustainable if fuel prices continue to rise without government intervention.
“Obviously, adjustments will be expected anytime soon. But again, we are very sensitive to the economic situation of Nigerians and our travellers,” he added.
He noted that developments in the global oil market, particularly the recent release of reserve crude oil, could influence fuel prices in the coming weeks.
Okonkwo also urged the Federal Government to explore engagement with the Dangote Refinery as part of efforts to stabilise aviation fuel supply locally.
“We were more hopeless in a situation where there was no refinery in Nigeria in the last two years. Now that we have a refinery, we are hopeful that we can find a solution around it,” he said.
According to him, if the spike persists, some airlines may struggle to continue absorbing the losses associated with the rising cost of aviation fuel.
Meanwhile, the AON spokesperson also reacted to the decision by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to sanction about five airlines over alleged price fixing.
Okonkwo said while the commission has regulatory powers, the aviation sector remains deregulated, making coordinated price fixing unlikely.
“There is no meeting of airlines where they agree to fix prices. Fixing prices would mean operating as a cartel, and that is not the case,” he said.
He explained that airline ticket pricing varies widely because different aircraft types attract different operating costs.
“Each airline determines its fares based on its own operational costs,” he said.
Okonkwo added that airlines must also demonstrate financial viability to regulators as part of the conditions for maintaining their operating licences.
“At every point in time, you must prove to the regulators that you are financially viable and capable of sustaining operations,” he said.
He urged regulators to take into account the fragile nature of the aviation industry when making policy decisions affecting airlines.
An Air Peace flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt has suffered a disruption, after the aircraft was affected by a bird strike on arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
The airline made the disclosure on Thursday in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Osifo-Whiskey Efe.
He added that the incident necessitated safety checks on the affected aircraft and the deployment of another aircraft to convey passengers on subsequent flights.
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“We deeply empathise with passengers affected by this unforeseen incident and are working diligently to minimise disruptions,” Efe said.
The latest incident adds to the growing challenge of bird strikes faced by local airlines.
In December 2025, Air Peace disclosed that it recorded 49 bird strikes across Nigeria between January and September, stressing that even a single strike could ground an aircraft for weeks.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Allen Onyema, had said on Arise TV that bird strikes constituted a major operational challenge, often leading to costly repairs and serious disruptions to flight schedules.
“One bird strike could cripple your aircraft for the next month. At that moment, there is no two ways about it. These bird strikes often lead to costly delays and serious disruptions in flight schedules,” he said.
He added that losses from such incidents compound other challenges facing Nigerian airlines, including heavy taxation and operational constraints.
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