Guan Eng: Punish MyAirline management, shareholders

Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng has called for the management and shareholders of MYAirline Sdn Bhd to be punished and for the affected passengers to be refunded.

Concurring with Transport Minister Anthony Loke that the budget carrier was “irresponsible” for terminating its services without any public assurances, he added the move could also be criminal in nature.

He also questioned if management was guilty of concealing crucial information or even defrauding both the authorities and their customers.

"Many angry passengers feel cheated, especially the 10,000 passengers on 39 flights who turned up in vain yesterday.

"The main question asked is why MYAirline was given a licence to operate by the previous government when it has such a dubious financial background.

"Such failure of governance by the previous government has impaired Malaysia’s international reputation in the airline industry,” he added in a statement.

The DAP chairperson said it was questionable if the authorities had carried out proper diligence when the firm could fold its wings barely a year after operations commenced.

"A full refund of the RM20 million in flight tickets bought by the 125,000 passengers must be the foremost priority.

"Whilst we are certain that both the Transport Ministry and Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) will conduct a thorough investigation, action must be taken not just against the company, but also against any government official who may have colluded with the company," he added.

Special task force

Yesterday, Loke said MYAirline assured Mavcom that it would be providing refunds to its passengers. However, the airline has yet to issue a public statement on this.

He added that Mavcom was instructed to form a special task force to cooperate with Bank Negara Malaysia with the aim of easing the refunding process for those who paid with credit cards.

In a statement at 5.30am yesterday, MYAirline announced that it was pulling the plug due to financial constraints and advised its passengers not to proceed to the airport.

MYAirline said it already tried exploring various partnerships and capital-raising options but was unsuccessful.

The company also said it would work on resuming operations as quickly as possible but was unable to commit to any timeline.

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