KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 ― The recently-grounded local charter airline Eaglexpress Air Charter Sdn Bhd said it will resume flying Muslim pilgrims on umrah flights once it gets permits from local aviation authorities.
Eaglexpress media representative Nordin Abdullah reportedly said the five-year-old company is working closely with the Malaysian Aviation (Mavcom) to comply with their requirements, The Star's business pullout StarBizWeek reported today.
“The media storm has probably painted a bleak picture; it is a challenge but we want to fly back out of Malaysia. Given the festive break and holidays, it has taken some time,” he was quoted saying.
“We are also not closing down; there is a delay, not cancellation of flights. Once we get our permits, we will reinstate the flights and will be able to return to normal and carry the pilgrims,” he also said.
On December 21, Mavcom had revoked Eaglexpress’ Air Service Permit (ASP), due to the latter’s failure to meet specific conditions for the ASP within a stipulated timeframe.
Eaglexpress made headlines earlier this month after its maiden umrah flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, scheduled for December 14, was delayed and cancelled without proper reason, stranding over 200 passengers in the national capital.
The Edge Financial Daily earlier this week reported Mavcom saying that its jurisdiction is limited to regulating airline operations domestically and not those abroad so long as Eaglexpress does not fly within Malaysian skies.
According to StarBizWeek, Nordin said the company resolved the issue by putting the passengers on flights operated by other airlines.
He emphasised that Eaglexpress is one of three airlines in Malaysia with a valid IATA Operational Safety Audit certification and gave an assurance that safety is not an issue.
He also said it will expire at the end of next month, but noted that a renewal audit review has been done.
As for the reason why there were alleged issues with Employees Provident Fund contributions and staff arrears payment, StarBizWeek reported that this was partly due to the company being unable to fly certain routes as the permit is currently pending.
“Even though we have revenues, we cannot fly. We would not have employed all these people for five years if we did not have the revenue streams. This is a recent thing and once the flights resume the revenues will be there,” Nordin was quoted saying.
According to StarBizWeek, Eaglexpress has four B747 aircraft with a 454-passenger capacity each, with flight operations to carry pilgrims from Malaysia, South-east Asia, Africa, the Middle-east to Saudi Arabia.
