We are writing in reference to the letter titled MAS flight cancelled, customer’s trust lost .

We would like to apologise to the writer ‘YG’ for his experience when flight MH1384 which was scheduled to depart for Kota Bharu at 7.50am on Thursday, Aug 19 was cancelled.

In the event of a flight cancellation, passengers are entitled to a full refund. They can also choose to travel on the next available flight. In this case, as ‘YG’ chose not to proceed with his travel, he is entitled to a full refund.

We apologise for the incorrect information provided by the ticketing assistant at the KLIA ticketing office and are glad that the duty manager was able to assist him. Please be assured that remedial measures will be taken to ensure that all frontline staff are aware of the necessary guidelines.

We would also like to clarify that the rescheduling of flights is an industry practice in the event of technical, operational or weather problems. The industry also practices merging of flights and when that happens, customers are notified of flight changes in advance to enable them to make alternative travel arrangements.

Passengers who have made their bookings with Malaysia Airlines will receive an SMS or a telephone call from the airline. A notification will also be sent to travel agents to enable them to inform their customers accordingly.

Please be assured that we do not merge flights without prior notification to customers. When a decision was made to merge MH1384 with flight MH1388 which departed at 10.10am, passengers and travel agents were notified in advance.

We stress that it is critical for all passengers including those who have booked via other channels (other than directly with the airline) to provide Malaysia Airlines with their mobile contact details to ensure that they receive the latest flight information.

To do so, please contact our call centre at 1300 88 3000 to register your contact details.

Once again, we would like to apologize to ‘YG’ for the inconvenience he has experienced. If ‘YG’ has additional feedback, please contact us at [email protected]

The writer is director of operations, Malaysia Airlines.