Ravi Alagendrran and Dato Karthiyani Govindan are the founders.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Rayani Air of Malaysia on Sunday started its first Shariah-compliant voyage making it into the history books as the Muslim country’s first Shariah-compliant airliner. The maiden voyage took off from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur to the resort island Langkawi.
Indian-origin couple Ravi Alagendrran and Dato Karthiyani Govindan, Hindus themselves, are the founders of the airline.
Managing director of Rayani Air, Jaafar Zamhari told Malaysia’s Star newspaper “We are the first Malaysian airline to be Shariah-compliant based on guidelines by relevant authorities. We are proud of this.â€
Everything from food served to the dress code of flight attendants in Rayanai are set according to Islamic guidelines. The in-flight meals are all halal, which essentially means that the animals were slaughtered according to the Islamic procedures and an absolute no-no to pork.
Zamhari added that while female Muslim flight crew will have to wear headscarves, the non-Muslim crew are to be decently dressed. Adding to this, there will be prayer recitals before the take-off.
Even though there are other Shariah-friendly airliners operating in the world, none of them are complete Shariah-compatible. Emirates doesn’t serve pork items in-flight, whereas Etihad has a travel prayer before take-off.
Bloomberg News reported that a UK-based carrier, Firnas Airways, is also planning to offer a Shariah-compliant flight next year.
Malaysia has a moderate Muslim-majority population, but in recent years conservative attitudes are rising.
Rayani Air is a collaboration between an oil and gas company, Merdeka Jayabumi Enterprise, and a mining company, Terus Maju Metal.