Budget carrier AirAsia has said that its flights to and from Indonesia’s Aceh province will temporarily be staffed by an all-male cabin crew, after local authorities issued a new regulation making headscarves compulsory for Muslim flight attendants who enter the region.

Reuters reported that Acehnese authorities had sent a letter to national carrier Garuda Indonesia and budget carriers with flights into the province, including AirAsia and Firefly, stating that “all female stewardesses must wear a jilbab (headscarf) in the Muslim fashion in accordance with the rules of syariah.”

However, Mawardi Ali, chief of the Aceh Besar region where the airport is located, told Reuters that non-Muslim flight attendants were not required to wear headscarves.

In response, AirAsia issued a statement saying that it acknowledged the new regulation and was “committed to ensure that our operations adhere to it.”

"For the time being, all AirAsia flights from and to Aceh will be operated by male cabin crew," it said.

The Star reported Firefly CEO Ignatius Ong as saying that the budget airline would possibly roster only males or non-Muslims on flights to the province.

Ong added that the company was considering incorporating an extra layer of clothing into the uniforms of female flight attendants, but that “no concrete decision” had been taken.

Aceh is the sole Indonesian province to have introduced syariah law.