Earlier press reports had suggested that the ministry would dismiss Gauss before the autumn.

Gauss will be charged with helping to formulate strategies to overhaul Malev's operations and, until then, to oversee daily operations, the statement read.

Nepszabadsag queried the ministry after the company announced that its former chief commercial officer Karim Markhlouf had left his post by mutual consent. His position will temporarily be filled by Jiri Marek, who oversaw sales at the Prague office.

Malev’s commercial policy and pricing have been contentious issues within the company over the last few years.

Markhlouf’s strategy was based on luring customers from no-frills airlines, and he had trimmed ticket prices for round trips to €100 on some routes, which many blamed for the widening losses. He also closed down small Malev offices in the Balkans, Israel and Italy.

The airline managed to increase its passenger numbers by 6% last year, but its losses were an all-time high of Ft 24.4 billion.

Malev management then denied that the discount pricing had led to the massive losses, arguing that the leasing of the Fokker-70 planes as well as the interest payments on its Russian former owners’ debts had been the main reasons for the negative net earnings."

Source: Hungary Around the Clock.

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