DUBLIN: Malaysia Airlines’ chief executive Peter Bellew is to leave after just over a year in charge and rejoin former employer Ryanair  as chief operations officer, the Irish airline said in a statement.

Bellew will be given the specific responsibility to help the airline address a pilot staffing issue that led to thousands of flight cancellations, the statement said.

Bellew was director of flight operations before he left Ryanair in 2014. He joined Malaysia Airlines as chief operations officer in September 2015 and took over as chief executive in July last year.