KUALA LUMPUR – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has welcomed efforts to resume the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, stressing that the global aviation community remains committed to uncovering the truth behind the aircraft’s disappearance.
IATA Director-General Willie Walsh said determining the cause of the Boeing 777’s disappearance remains critical to global aviation safety, adding that any credible new data or technology that could assist the search should be fully utilised.
“It is important that we make every effort to locate the aircraft and understand what really happened,” Walsh was quoted saying by Bernama at IATA’s Global Media Briefing at its headquarters in Geneva yesterday.
MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 passengers and crew on board, while on a routine commercial flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Beijing. Military radar later detected the aircraft turning back across Peninsular Malaysia towards the Andaman Sea before it disappeared from radar.
Walsh said IATA, which represents airlines and sets global standards for safety, security, efficiency and sustainability, supports any new effort by governments or technical teams to locate the missing Boeing 777.
“Everyone wants the aircraft to be found and everyone wants to understand what really happened,” he said.
He added that the association welcomes any effort that could advance the investigation and emphasised the ongoing impact of MH370’s disappearance on families, the aviation industry, and the public.
“I’m sure all the families involved will welcome the resumption of the search, as will everyone in the industry, because we all want to know what happened,” Walsh said.
On December 3, the Transport Ministry announced that the underwater search for MH370 will resume on December 30. US-based deep-sea exploration company Ocean Infinity has confirmed that it will conduct a phased 55-day operation.
Despite the largest and most expensive search in aviation history, involving Australia, Malaysia, and China, the aircraft’s wreckage has yet to be located. The original search, covering 120,000 square kilometres in the southern Indian Ocean, was suspended in 2017 after two years. Only scattered debris confirmed to be from MH370 has ever been found on islands in the western Indian Ocean.
An earlier search attempt this year, which began in March, was halted due to adverse weather conditions.
Ocean Infinity is confident that improved robotic technology, advanced mapping, and lessons learned from previous missions provide a higher chance of success. The company also highlighted that its fleet of robotic survey vessels is now carbon-neutral and more efficient than traditional deep-sea platforms. – December 10, 2025