Grounded Rayani Air could fly again
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Rayani Air, which made headlines earlier this year by becoming Malaysia’s first shariah-compliant airline, could return to the skies, even after having its operating permit revoked in June, Malaysia’s government has said.
The Bernama news agency reported Malaysia’s Deputy Transport Minister, Ab Aziz Kaprawi, as saying that Rayani is keen to relaunch flights, but that it would need to submit fresh applications to the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA) and the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) in order to do so. He added that the airline would also need to prove that it now has sufficient financial backing.
“[Rayani Air] have expressed desire to the government to restart their operations, and want to reactivate their licence which was revoked,” Ab Aziz was reported saying. “The government… has advised them to apply for a new license if they want to continue operations.”
Rayani’s CEO, Ravi Alagendrran, was quoted saying that Malaysia needs more airlines to satisfy demand.
“Currently there is a high demand from tourists intending to come here, especially from China, however aircrafts are limited. So with the development of the tourism industry, it is indeed necessary to have more airline operators,” he stated.
Malaysian aviation authorities cancelled Rayani’s Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in June 2016, just six months after it started operating. The carrier had been plagued by a series of operational issues that included cancelled flights and passengers being issued with hand-written boarding passes.
Prior to its grounding, Rayani Air operated to five Malaysian destinations: Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Kota Bharu, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. Under its shariah operations, prayers were recited before take-off, in-flight food was halal, no alcohol was served, and all flight attendants wore head-scarves.
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