Rayani Air

Not to be confused with Ryanair.
Rayani Air
IATA ICAO Callsign
RN RKT RAYANI
Founded 19 January 2015
Commenced operations 20 December 2015
Ceased operations 9 April 2016
Hubs Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Fleet size 2
Destinations 6
Company slogan Let's fly (Malay: Jom Terbang)
Parent company Rayani Air Sdn Bhd
Headquarters Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Key people Ravi Alagendrran and Dato Karthiyani Govindan (founder)

Ravi Alagendrran (Managing Director)
Website www.rayaniair.com

Rayani Air Sdn. Bhd. (Jawi:rayané 'ayr راياني أير) was a full service airline in Malaysia, headquartered in Shah Alam, Selangor, in the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area.[1] It was the first Sharia-Compliant airline in Malaysia and the fourth such airline in the world, after Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA), Saudi Arabian Airlines and Iran Air. No alcoholic beverages or pork were served on board in accordance with Islamic dietary laws and prayers were recited before every flight.

History

Rayani Air was founded by Ravi Alagendrran and his wife Karthiyani Govindan, both of whom are Malaysians of ethnic Indian descent.[2] The name Rayani is said to be mashup of the first names of the founders.

Rayani Airlines was originally intended to be based at Malacca International Airport somewhere in late Q4 2014 with its inaugural flight to take place in August.[3] However the airline changed its base to Langkawi International Airport to attract tourists to the resort island.[4] It was previously rumoured that Rayani Air would be launched as a Low Cost Carrier; however the airline officially positioned itself as a Full Service Carrier in December 2015.[5]

On 20 December 2015, the airline's inaugural flight to Langkawi (RN600) took off smoothly.[6]

The airline was planning to co-operate with Royal Brunei Airlines to strengthen the Sharia-compliant airline concept within the aviation industry.[7]

On 9 April 2016, Rayani Air temporarily suspended all operations until further notice, citing 'restructuring exercises' on the announcement made by its co-founder.[8][9]

Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) in a statement on 13 June 2016, announced that Rayani Air licence has been revoked, citing 'it had breached the conditions of its licence and it also lacks the financial and management capacity to continue operating as a commercial airline'.[10]

Destinations

Rayani Air's travel destinations were as follows

Fleet

Rayani Air fleet as in February 2016 as follows:

Aircraft In Service On Order Seat Configuration Notes
Boeing 737-400 2 2 16 Business & 128 Economy Former Malaysia Airlines aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

On 9 February 2016, Rayani Air flight RN180 scheduled for Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 was cancelled due to a broken cockpit windshield. The next day, the airline issued a press statement apologising for the flight cancellation, and attributed the shattered windshield to a night flight previously. Rayani Air said they were investigating to see if the broken windshield was an act of sabotage, and would liaise with relevant authorities to deal with this.[11]

In March 2016, Rayani Air was plagued with numerous issues and complaints. Passengers complained that the airline frequently rescheduled flights, often up to 13 hours later. The airline also frequently cancelled flights without advance notice and without compensation or assistance to affected passengers. The consumer complaints were highlighted in several media outlets.[12] It was reported that pilots refused to fly due to aircraft's poor condition. [13]

Politician Lau Weng San has criticised the airline for using handwritten boarding passes, which poses a security threat to aviation industry.[14] This led the Minister of Transport, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, state that the airline will be investigated and suspended if necessary.[15] On 11 April 2016, Rayani Air was officially suspended for 3 months.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Home page. Rayani Air. Retrieved on 10 January 2016. "Rayani Air Sdn. Bhd. No.22-1A Blok 2, Jalan Pahat G-15G Dataran Otomobil Seksyen 15 40200 Shah Alam, Selangor"
  2. ↑ "Ethnic Indian couple launches Malaysia's 1st Islamic airline". The Hindu. 23 December 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Airline News Asia. "Rayani Air".
  4. ↑ BERNAMA. "New budget airline Rayani Air picks Langkawi as hub". FMT News.
  5. ↑ "First Sharia-compliant airline, Rayani Air, launches in Malaysia" (in Chinese). Guang Ming Daily. 19 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Rayani Air To Begin Operations Sunday". Astro Awani. Malaysian Digest. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Rayani Air bakal lantik mursyidul am PAS sebagai penasihat". The Malaysian Insider. 3 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Rayani Air Gantung Operasi". mStar Online. mStar Online. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "Rayani Air halts operations after pilot strike". Malay Mail Online. Malay Mail Online. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  10. ↑ "Mavcom revokes Rayani Air's licence". The Star Online. The Star. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Rayani Air says flight delay caused by shattered windshield, suspects sabotage". The Malay Mail. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Rayani Air faces suspension if services fail to improve". New Straits Times. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "它是「最短命」航空之一 僅營運了110天". 中時電子報. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  14. ↑ "Security threat? Transport Ministry probes Rayani Air for handwritten boarding passes". The Malay Mail. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Liow: Suspension of Rayani Air possible". The Star. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  16. ↑ Joseph Kaos Jr (11 April 2016). "Rayani Air suspended for three months". The Star. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
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