Two AirAsia chiefs will step aside for at least two months as authorities and the airline look into claims that aerospace giant Airbus paid the company $50 million to secure a plane order. Airbus said last week it had agreed to set aside up to 3.6 billion euros to settle a corruption probe by authorities in France, Britain and the United States. As news of the probe widened, the Malaysia-based AirAsia was named in a bribery investigation by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), allegedly implicating two company executives. Identified as “key decision makers” in AirAsia and AirAsia X — the company long-haul arm — they were allegedly rewarded with the order of 180 aircraft from Airbus. “The payments to the sports team were intended to secure or reward improper favour by them in respect of that business,” the document said.

Source: Punch February 03, 2020 17:37 UTC