Rayani hopes to fly again

KUALA LUMPUR: Rayani Air will appeal to Malaysia’s airline authorities for a “second chance” after their Air Service Licence (ASL) and Air Operator’s Certificate were revoked.

Its owner Ravi Alagendrran said they were in talks with a new investor to revive the airline.

Ravi’s plea comes after the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) revoked the airline’s licence and certificate, effective yesterday.

Mavcom said it found Rayani Air had breached the conditions of its licence and that it also lacked the financial and managerial capacity to continue operating as an airline.

“The revocations came at the peak of our negotiations with investors for the acquisition of equity in Rayani Air, after realising that the present owners and their management are no longer fit to revive the airline,” Ravi said in a state­­­ment yesterday.

He said the “qualified and strong management team” of its new investors would revive and manage the airline “much better than us”.

Mavcom said the airline lost its licence after it breached its conditions.

“As a consequence, Rayani Air can no longer operate as a commercial airline with effect from today,” it said.

On May 25, Mavcom issued a show-cause letter to Rayani Air that submitted its representation in writing on the last day of the stipulated time.

“After reviewing Rayani Air’s written representation, Mavcom decided to revoke its ASL, as Rayani Air did not provide a satisfactory response to the show cause letter dated May 25, 2016,” it said.

The commission also said Rayani Air was still responsible for refunding its customers.

“Customers who have purchased tickets with Rayani Air but were not able go on their journey may lodge a complaint with the company and seek a refund.

“In the event consumers are not able to obtain their refunds, consumers can file a civil suit for those refunds,” it said.

The Star reported that Rayani Air’s air operator’s certificate (AOC) was suspended for three months on April 11 after the airline temporarily halted operations following a strike by its pilots.

It was reported that Rayani Air’s operations were suspended for allegedly breaching the Civil Aviation Regulations 1966.