Christoph Mueller, the CEO of Irish airline Aer Lingus, is named the new CEO of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional.

The German aviation veteran will be appointed as CEO-designate from 1 January 2015 and nominated as non-executive director of the Board of MAS. Discussions are ongoing for Mueller to take full helm of Malaysia Airlines between March and May next year. He will be the first non-Malaysian to head the airline.

“It is imperative that we have the best available talent with the expertise and experience to help drive the progress of the restructuring effort further forward, lead the airline to profitability, and groom a Malaysian successor to assume the leadership of the airline in the future,” said Prime Minister Najib Razak.