Australia has told the families of the victims of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that the search might be scaled back.
Speaking just before the first anniversary of the crash, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he hoped the aircraft would be found, but said he can’t promise the search will go ‘at this intensity forever’.
The plane vanished on March 8 2014 on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.
Despite a massive search, with a budget of £61 million jointly funded by Australia and Malaysia, no trace has been found.
“I do reassure the families of our hope and expectation that the ongoing search will succeed,” Abbott told parliament in Canberra.
“I can’t promise that the search will go on at this intensity forever but we will continue our very best efforts to resolve this mystery and provide some answers."
The search is focusing on an area of the Indian Ocean regarded one of the world’s roughest stretches of ocean.
Earlier this week, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia announced plans to trial a new way of tracking planes.
The new system means planes can be tracked every 15 minutes, compared to the current 30 to 40 minutes, and uses technology already installed on most long-haul planes.
Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation is due to publish an interim report on the plane’s disappearance on Saturday.
