Malaysia Airlines advances appointment of CEO Christoph Mueller to May

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Reuters) - Malaysia Airlines (MAS) said on Friday the appointment of Christoph Mueller as its managing director and group chief executive officer had been brought forward to May 1 from July.

The move will allow Mueller to lead the company's restructuring efforts and allow appropriate time for the transition into Malaysia Airlines Bhd, the new company which will contain the airline's operations from July 2015.

The current CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, will step down on April 30 and resume his duties as a non-executive director on the board, said MAS.

The airline will issue termination letters to employees affected by the restructuring on June 1, two months later than the previous date indicated, after obtaining the approval of sovereign fund Khazanah.

Khazanah took MAS private last year, as part of a 6 billion Malaysian ringgit ($1.61 billion) restructuring aimed at returning the carrier to profit within three years. ($1 = 3.7290 ringgit) (Reporting By Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)