AirAsia denies corruption in Airbus order as Malaysia probes bribe claims
- The carrier denied allegations by Britain’s SFO that Airbus had bribed two of its executives for a deal to buy 180 planes
- Malaysia’s anti-graft agency, which is investigating a US$50 million corruption claim, said it’s in touch with the UK authorities
The SFO said on Friday that Airbus had failed to prevent individuals associated with it bribing executives linked to AirAsia Group and its long-haul arm, AirAsia X.
AirAsia said it had never made any purchase decisions that were premised on an Airbus sponsorship, and that it would fully cooperate with Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission.
In a statement, it said it had not been involved with the SFO’s investigation of Airbus or given any opportunity to provide clarification.
“AirAsia vigorously rejects and denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing,” it said. “As AirAsia and its executives have no visibility on Airbus’ internal processes, we cannot comment on or be associated with any alleged failures or lapses on the part of Airbus to comply with its own policies or applicable legal requirements.” Airbus declined to comment.
