Malaysia Airlines said today it will let go of 6,000 employees over the next two years as part of a plan to turn around the loss-making national carrier.

Some 3,089 workers will leave this year, 2,622 of whom will be retrenched under a voluntary severence scheme which was offered to staff in May.

The remaining 467 workers are leaving by year's end for reasons including expired contracts and retirements, said the airline, which currently has 23,000 employees.

Managing director Idris Jala said the airline expected a further 3,000 or so employees to leave through "natural attrition, expiry of contracts and possibly voluntary retirement," to achieve an overall target of 6,000 over the next two years.

Jala said in a statement that the reduction in its workforce would have a minimal impact on the national carrier's services.

"We assure our customers that despite this manpower right-sizing, we will not compromise on the safety and security of our flight operations," he said in the statement.

RM500 mil retrenchment scheme

The airline will pay the 2,622 employees some RM500 million under the retrenchment scheme.

Malaysia Airlines received 4,238 applications for the scheme, which originally had been aimed at cutting 3,000 to 5,000 workers.

The carrier has said it expects to reduce its staff numbers by 25 percent and to achieve cost savings of about RM250 million each year through the voluntary retrenchment scheme.

The ailing carrier has embarked on a three-year business plan to return to profit after posting annual losses of RM1.3 billion last year.

Malaysia Airlines will also surrender all but 19 major domestic routes to budget carrier AirAsia and sell assets to raise cash.

The airline has blamed its losses on crippling fuel prices and lower load factors but hopes to be back in the black by 2007 and to achieve record profitability the year after.