The “Islamic” Malaysian airline company launches its first flight

A Malaysian aircraft. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)

On Sunday 20th December, the first domestic flight of private Malaysian Airlines company “Rayani Air” was launched, in compliance with Islamic shariah.

The CEO of the company, Jaffar Zamhoury in his statement to Huffington Post Arabic, said, “We kicked off with a domestic route from Kuala Lumpur to the resort island of Langkawi. The airline only serves halal food and alcohol consumption on board is strictly prohibited.”

Muslim flight crew have to wear the hijab while non-Muslim crew are to be “decently dressed”, according to the airlines’ Managing Director , There will also be prayer recitals before the departure of each flight, he said.

The airline will initially fly to Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Bharu, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. There are plans to introduce routes to the Middle East and provide flights for both the Umrah and Hajj.

The news agency said a company has recently introduced halal bottled mineral water in Malaysia. Under the halal concept, pork and its by-products, alcohol and animals not slaughtered according to Islamic procedures are forbidden to be consumed.

Rayani Air is the fourth airline in the world to implement shariah-compliant rules. The other airlines include Royal Brunei Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Iran Air.