Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has suspended Rayani Air's AOC for a period of three months pending an investigation into its operations.
The carrier has been plagued with operational problems since it launched commercial services in December last year. The latest disruption came on Friday, April 8 when flightcrew elected to go on strike resulting in all Rayani Air (Langkawi) services being cancelled until further notice.
At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, April 11, the DCA's director-general, Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said the airline's management had been called to a formal inquiry set for May 12.
Owned by oil and gas firm, Merdeka Jayabumi Enterprise, and mining company, Terus Maju Metal, Rayani Air markets itself as a full-service, Shariah-compliant carrier. At the time it suspended operations, it flew a pair of B737-400s on scheduled passenger flights connecting Kuala Lumpur International with Kota Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, and Langkawi.
