Pre-flight prayer? Check. No alcohol? Check. Hijabs? Check. Handwritten boarding passes? Check!
Welcome to Rayani Air, Malaysia’s first sharia-compliant airline.
No alcohol on board, female Muslim cabin crew have to wear the hijab while non-Muslims have to be decently dressed, and prayers are recited before the aircraft takes off.
While all these rules help ‘guarantee’ a ‘sin-free’ flight, the airline faces frequent flight delays and cancellations. Things get even more complicated because Rayani Air operates with only two aircraft at the moment.
In Malaysia, one of the requirements is that the airlines must meet 80% punctuality for arrivals.
Handwritten boarding passes
But the airline’s shortcomings came to light and things got more and more complicated when Rayani Air issued handwritten boarding passes to its passengers on flight RN154 last month.
Lau Weng San, a lawmaker from Selangor, posted photo of his ‘handwritten’ boarding pass on social media and the post went viral.
“No barcode on a boarding pass is a serious security risk. Anyone can print a paper boarding pass and walk into the plane,” read one comment.
“Guaranteed to be a halal boarding pass, brother,” another.
Rayani Air defended the hand-written boarding passes, saying they were written on Rayani Air’s official thermal paper, the same material used for its usual boarding pass, with the company logo on the top left corner.
“The said handwritten boarding pass format is identical as a printed boarding pass; only handwritten,” Rayani Air said in a statement.
Complaints from the public
Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Transport Minister of Malaysia, wasn’t satisfied, though.
He said the ministry was closely monitoring the airline company following complaints from the public on flight delays and cancellations as well as handwritten boarding passes.
“We will investigate if reports have been lodged with the ministry. We will look at the complaints such as cancelled flights which were not replaced. That is a serious matter.”
“We can even suspend the airline’s services if they’re not following our order,” he said at the Parliament lobby.
Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) regulations
Asked on how Rayani Air managed to obtain the operating licence, Liow said as long as the company complied with the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) regulations, they would be given the licence.
“This is a democratic country; as long as the airline could meet the DCA requirements, safety requirements and its services plan, we will issue the licence.
“But with the level of services provided now, not meeting the wants of consumers, action can be taken against the airline.”
Rayani Air told it will not issue any manually handwritten boarding pass with immediate effect.
“Rayani Air apologises to all passengers who were affected by the flight delay and the confusion caused,” stated the airline.
Efforts to reinforce its business model
With regards to syariah principles, Rayani Air Public Relations Manager Anisah Azharuddin said the airline was making efforts to reinforce its business model.
“Currently, we have three basic principles, which is for the Muslim crew to wear hijab and cover the aurat, modest wear for non-Muslims, no alcoholic drinks and reciting the prayer before flight,” she said.
Anisah said the airline accepts every opinion and criticism positively.
“Rayani Air is a new airline and we are trying to correct errors.”
“We are also grateful to the passengers who are patient and choose Rayani Air,” she said.
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