KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — Amal, by Malaysia Airlines flight MH8311, which was scheduled to depart Jeddah at 1.10am on Saturday for Kuala Lumpur, experienced a prolonged delay due to a technical issue on the A380-800 aircraft operating the flight.
Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAS) in a statement today said the issue which was discovered during the passenger boarding process, was not able to be immediately rectified and required a longer time for repair.
At the same time, Amal’s operating crew had to step down from duty to observe their flight time limitation.
“Safety remains of utmost importance to Amal and the airline truly regrets the inconvenience experienced by passengers.
“Amal will be mounting a rescue flight scheduled to depart Jeddah on August 26 at 9.35pm, arriving in Kuala Lumpur on August 27 at 1.15pm,” according to the statement.
Earlier, Bernama reported that 476 Malaysian hajj pilgrims who were believed to be under the supervision of the Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) had been stranded in Jeddah since last Saturday due to the rescheduling of their flying time.
Amal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG). In collaboration with Malaysia Airlines, Amal offers scheduled and charter services to Jeddah and Madinah from Kuala Lumpur on board its Airbus A380 and A330 aircraft.
MAS said during the wait, passengers were updated of the situation via in-flight announcements and meals were also served.
As the aircraft was declared unserviceable, passengers were allowed to disembark the aircraft and were transferred to their hotels after clearing immigration.
“Tabung Haji’s staff were on hand to provide the necessary assistance,” the statement said.
Amal operates a total of 138 flights between Kuala Lumpur and Jeddah/Madinah during the 2019 Hajj season. It also operates 142 feeder flights to transport passengers to/from domestic stations in Malaysia. — Bernama
