It offered everything devout Muslims could wish for: pre-flight prayers, female crew cocooned in ‘modest’ Islamic dress and not a whiff of booze.

But the one thing Rayani Air did not offer was safety. According to the BBC, the airline, which began operating last year, has been barred from flying for breaching regulations.

The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) said it was revoking the airline’s certification because of concerns over its safety audit and administration.

Rayani Air has two Boeing 737-400 planes in its fleet, each able to carry about 180 passengers, eight pilots and 50 crew.

The DCA said yesterday that Rayani Air could no longer operate as a commercial airline.

It follows a three month suspension after the airline failed to follow flight regulations. A safety audit was later conducted to assess its operations.

Malaysia’s aviation commission said in a statement that the airline:

Had breached the conditions of its Air Service Licence (ASL) and lacks the financial and management capacity to continue operating as a commercial airline.

The DCA said it had conducted a “thorough deliberation” on the airline’s response to the safety audit.

In the lead up to its suspension, the airline had faced criticism including complaints about cancelled flights as pilots went on strike.

Based on the island of Langkawi, Rayani Air had been flying to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and the northern city of Kota Bahru.

It had plans to fly to more Malaysian cities and eventually schedule flights to Mecca for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, reports said.

At the time of its launch, Rayani Air’s Managing Director, Jaafar Zamhari, said:

It is compulsory for our Muslim women cabin crew to wear hijab and for non-Muslim’s to wear a decent uniform. We also recite doa (prayers) before the departure of each flight, we have a ‘no-alcohol’ policy, and we provide food and beverages that are halal.

The airline joined the ranks of Royal Brunei Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, and Iran Air. And more are aspiring to join the newly-created sharia airline trend.





Last October, Bloomberg reported on the impending rise of Firnas Airlines, a UK startup outfit which was raising a capital of $50 million through sharia-compliant means to fund its plans, with possible financiers in Iran, the United Arab Emirates and UK. Its founder and CEO is Kazi Shafiqur Rahman.The “not-for-kaffirs” airline would target London-based Muslims through its sharia-based offerings; it would be free of alcohol, serve strictly halal meat, use interest-free finance and offer a “a more upscale cabin product than available to many Islamic destinations” at a budget-friendly price.