Competitors offer fare discounts to stranded Rayani Air passengers

Malindo Air is offering special discounted fares to stranded Rayani Air passengers. Rayani Air, a shari'ah-compliant airline which began operations in December last year, has had its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) provisionally suspended for three months as of 11 April by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) of Malaysia.

Passengers holding Rayani Air tickets will be able to rebook their cancelled flights at Malindo Air’s ticketing counter nationwide, the airline said.

“These fares are available for purchase from today until April 30, 2016, for immediate travel and until October 31, 2016, said Malindo Air’s spokesperson. “Malindo Air has also helped Rayani Air on numerous occasions when they have encountered delays and cancellations.

“We hope this will ease the problems of passengers who are in urgent need to travel without any disruptions.” 

Malindo Air recently celebrated its third anniversary, and moved its operations at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to the Main terminal building from the klia2 terminal in mid-March.

Malaysia Airlines earlier announced that passengers holding Rayani Air tickets will be able to rebook their cancelled flights via Malaysia Airlines at discounted fares.

Malaysia Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Paul Simmons said, “As the national carrier and as caring Malaysians, it is our duty to extend any assistance to ease the burden of impacted Rayani Air passengers. In this case, we are offering affected passengers a special fare to connect them to their intended destination. We hope this offer will help alleviate the passengers’ travel woes.”

DCA said that it would conduct a full administration and safety audit of Rayani Air's operations to assess its compliance with its Air Operator Certificate (AOC). According to a joint statement from Dato' Sri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, Director General of the DCA and the Malaysian Aviation Commission on 11 April, Rayani Air had already received warning letters for non-compliance and poor service levels prior to the suspension.

The Malaysian Aviation Commission will further evaluate Rayani Air's commercial standing and capabilities to continue as an air service licence holder. An airline which intends to cease operations must give the DCA at least six months' notice, the DCA added.

Rayani Air said on its Facebook page on 13 April that refunds and handling queries are now its main priority, and pasted Malindo Air's offer on Facebook on 15 April.

Interested?

To take advantage of Malindo Air's special fare, affected passengers will need to present their email or proof of travel booking on Rayani Air. For further enquiries, visit the website or contact Malindo Air's hotline at +603 7841 5388 from 9am to 9pm daily.

For Malaysia Airlines' special fare, affected passengers should present their email or proof of travel booking on Rayani Air. Passengers may call 1 300 88 3000 within Malaysia or visit any Malaysia Airlines ticket counters nationwide. The fares are available until 30 April 2016, for immediate travel until 31 July 2016.

Rayani Air can be contacted at refund at rayaniair.com or info at rayaniair.com.

Read the Suroor Asia blog post on Rayani Air's launch