KUALA LUMPUR: Airlines operating in the country have been told that they must provide meals, telephone calls and internet access for flight delays of two hours or more.
Aviation regulator Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) said if the delays are at least five hours, they must provide accommodation and transportation to and from the hotel as well.
Mavcom was responding to Business Times following a spate of flight disruptions recently including those by Malaysia Airlines Bhd and Firefly that had caused an uproar among affected passengers and keyboard warriors on social media platforms.
A Mavcom spokesperson pointed out that airlines are obligated to keep their passengers well-informed and provide assistance as outlined in the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC).
The spokesperson added that it was closely monitoring the services of Malaysia Airlines and other carriers to ensure that the national carrier was taking effective measures to minimise the recurrence of flight disruptions.
"Malaysia Airlines, along with all other airlines operating in Malaysia must strictly adhere to these responsibilities to ensure minimal disruption to consumers. However, for flight disruptions that occur outside of Malaysia, airlines must comply with the laws and regulations of the countries in which they operate," the spokesperson said.
The on-time performance (OTP) and flight cancellations data for international and domestic flights operated by Malaysian-based carriers are regularly updated on Mavcom's official website.
"This information is also aimed at empowering consumers, enabling them to make informed decisions when selecting their preferred airline," the Mavcom spokesperson said
Checks by Business Times on Mavcom's website on the OTP performance for international flights between May and July 2024 out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 (T1) and Terminal 2 (T2) revealed that AirAsia X Bhd was the most punctual, followed by AirAsia Bhd, Malaysia Airlines Bhd and Batik Air Sdn Bhd.
For domestic flights, AirAsia and AirAsia X led the OTP performance followed by Malaysia Airlines and Batik Air at KLIA's T1 and T2.
Malaysia Airlines and Firefly's parent company Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) had apologised for the increase in flight delays and cancellations last week.
MAG group managing director Datuk Captain Izham Ismail said several factors such as weather, technical and manpower challenges, supply chain constraints and the ongoing normalisation of global aviation operations post-pandemic had led to the flight disruptions.
"We acknowledge that these challenges have cascaded into a series of disruptions, impacting our flight schedules. Flight retiming caused by technical delays usually creates a domino effect lasting several days or weeks depending on the availability of spare aircraft for an airline," he said in a statement.
An aviation industry source said flight delays or cancellations due to unscheduled aircraft technical issue happened to airlines globally.
The duration to repair an aircraft in an unscheduled maintenance repair depends on several factors including if there are spare parts available in the country that the airplane is departing.
If not, the airline would need to send its own engineering team to bring the spare parts and make the repairs needed.
"Airlines typically won't carry all the spare parts to wherever they fly to. They might carry certain parts but not all."
"So, when there's a technical malfunction overseas and they need a certain spare part and it's unavailable in the departing country or close by (to the departing country), they need to dispatch their engineering team for Kuala Lumpur in this case to the destination.
"It takes time to travel to bring the parts and it also takes time to rectify the issue. An airline would not simply delay or cancel flights. Every time an aircraft is on ground, airline burns a lot of money but safety is always the top priority," the aviation source said.
The industry source added that unexpected medical emergencies onboard could also result in flight delays, emergency landing in another airport or aircraft turnback to departure airport.