KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — A pilot strike has caused Rayani Air to cancel flights today.
Star Online reported that at least three flights from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi (RN182), Kota Kinabalu (RN130) and Kuching (RN154) had been cancelled today, according to posts on social media by unhappy customers.
According to a passenger, Siti Nadwatul, 24, her flight to Langkawi was rescheduled three times before it was finally cancelled. She had been initially told of a “re-timed” flight, before receiving more texts citing a “pilot strike” and “operational requirement” informing her of the cancellation.
Siti and 10 of her family members including her wheelchair-bound father, had booked tickets on Feb 3 for a trip to Langkawi.
She told Star Online that she had no choice but to take her family members on a bus and the ferry to Langkawi. She added she would not be using her Rayani Air return ticket for the trip back to Kuala Lumpur but had booked return tickets on another airline.
Star Online also reported that real estate agent Des Jr Lee, who was supposed to fly to Kota Kinabalu with his fiancé at 7.45am today, had received a text informing him of the cancellation at 3am due to “pilots on strike”.
The 31-year-old had to fork out RM1,000 for two new tickets from two different airlines for the couple’s trip to Kota Kinabalu.
“Despite the minimal communication between ground staff and their superiors, they did their best to handle the situation.
“I also got a cash refund of RM396,” Star Online quoted Lee as saying.
