The search operation for the passenger plane lost while flying from Malaysia to China has been suspended until the end of the year, 11 years after the incident occurred. The search for the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane, which disappeared in 2014 with 239 passengers on board, was restarted 11 years later and has now been suspended. Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke stated in a voice message sent to the AFP news agency that the search operation for the plane has been paused for now and will continue by the end of this year. The Boeing 777 aircraft with flight number MH370 disappeared from radar on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite the extensive search efforts in aviation history, the plane was never found. Loke’s statement came about a month after Malaysian officials declared that the search operations were ongoing. The initial search operation was led by Australia and covered an area of approximately 120 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean for three years, but apart from a few debris pieces, no trace of the plane was found. In 2018, a similar search operation conducted by the UK and US-based company Ocean Infinity also ended without success. The company agreed to start a new search operation earlier this year. Minister Loke mentioned during an event at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday that the weather conditions were not suitable for the search operation, emphasizing that finding the aircraft depended on the search and it was unpredictable. A statement from the “MH370 Families” Facebook group, representing the relatives of the passengers on the plane, echoed Loke’s remarks, indicating that the search operation was suspended due to “seasonal weather changes and unavoidable commercial commitments.” Loke announced in December that Ocean Infinity would conduct a new search in a 15,000 square kilometer area south of the Indian Ocean. The operation would still be based on a “no find, no fee” principle, meaning that the Malaysian government would only make payment if the company found the plane.