Malaysia Airlines aims to achieve a record net annual profit this year by surpassing its 2003 and best-ever result of MYR460 million (US$131.1 million).

"The main reason is that we have already achieved MYR246 million for the first half of 2007, and projecting it against a seasonably better second half, I think we should be able to get there," managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Idris Jala told Bernama.

The carrier generated a profit last year after launching a business turnaround plan in 2006, which was an initiative headed by Mr. Idris, who was specially appointed to turn things around for the carrier in December 2005.

After exceeding the expectations of its turnaround plan, the carrier is now turning its attention to the stiffer competition that is likely to arise from the implementation of the Asean Open Sky Policy in January 2009.

To manage this situation, MAS intends to become a 5-star airline with low-cost carrier costs in a bid to boost operational efficiency.

"By December, I am sure we'll declare we've successfully turned around the company and we need to know what to do next," Mr. Idris said.