Oh, Rayani Air.
In what seems like a series of brickbats, bruises and just bad planning, the troubled — and recently permanently grounded — airline has delivered another piece of unfortunate news to its customers.
Taking to Facebook, the airline — which operated for several months as Malaysia’s only syariah-compliant airline — apologised for not being able to provide refunds to customers who have booked tickets.
“Dear customers, we apologise that we are still unable to make refunds on flight tickets despite our best efforts. The withdrawal of our Air Service Licence (ASL) and ASP (air service permit) were made while we were finalising investments in this airline. With the withdrawal of these licences, no investor will cooperate with us,” it said in a statement.
“With the withdrawal of licences, the investors who had committed to supplying funds on June 30 to resolve the refund issue has withdrawn from their commitment,” the company stated.
It also said that they were working hard to have the Department of Civil Aviation and the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) allow them a second chance at running the business with new investors and a different management team.
“We can’t promise a date for this to be done, but what is certain is that we prioritise is our obligations to our customers. We hope customers will be patient with us and not visit the office as it is currently closed and will be closed for the near future. We will make an official announcement as soon as we receive positive news.”
In April, the DCA slapped the company with a provisional three-month suspension on its operations following a strike by the carriers pilots over the issue of outstanding salary payments.
In the same month, a group of Rayani Air staff members issued a demand to the carrier to settle their unpaid salaries, amounting to a total of RM1.5 million.
Last month, Mavcom announced that it would revoke the troubled company’s Air Service Licence (ASL) following a thorough check into its operations.
