Malaysia launches Sharia-compliant airline

Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 22 (BNA): Rayani Air, the first Sharia-compliant airline in Malaysia, is setting a 10-year target to establish a network to capitalise on the umrah and haj pilgrimage market, says Managing Director Jaafar Zamhari. Jaafar said Rayani Air had acquired two aircraft at this initial stage to serve Klia2 in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Bharu (Kelantan) with LIA as their operation hub, before including Kuching and Kota Kinabalu next year. "It is our hope that the decision to make Langkawi our operation's hub will turn Langkawi into a hub for tourism where travellers would come here first before being channelled to other tourism destinations in the country," he said. The airline also plans to add two more aircraft to its fleet by 2017 as a move to increase its domestic routes and flight frequencies, Bernama reported.