KUALA LUMPUR: MYAirline Sdn Bhd, which has had its air operator's certificate (AOC) suspended for 90-days and its air service license (ASL) due to expire on November 14, 2023, today said it has received 15 proposals from potential investors, and are in advanced stages of negotiations with two of them.
"The team is working around the clock to finalise a recapitalisation package that will revive our operations. This will also facilitate the reimbursement of monies to affected passengers as well as payment of salary and statutory dues, " the company said in a statement.
MYAirline added that it has also formally responded to show cause notices issued by the Civil Aviation Authority Malaysia (CAAM) and the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) on October 25, 2023 and October 27, 2023 respectively, within the deadlines imposed.
CAAM is currently re-auditing the carrier's AOC renewal checklist following a 90-day suspension imposed on Oct 16.
While Mavcom, which issued a show cause notice to MYAirline on October 13 2023 to justfy keeping its ASL, is also investigating the airline for other possible breaches of its ASL conditions.
MYAirline said its customer care team is currently attending to over 30,000 calls and emails on refunds received from affected passengers.
"As stated earlier, we aim to make good on all refunds as soon as we receive the recapitalisation package from our investors. "We will continue to provide updates to our valued passengers and related stakeholders once they are made available," the airline said in the statement.
It also reiterated that it has not terminated or placed any staff on unpaid leave since October 12.
Besides an internal "Tabung Ihsan" which was set-up to collect donations from within MYAirline for employees most adversely affected, it has also made arrangements with the Social Security Organisation for employees to apply for the Employee Insurance Scheme (EIS) to ease their financial burden during this period.
On October 12, 2023, MYAirline abruptly suspended operations after a potential new investor pulled out of a deal to buy a controlling stake in the airline at the eleventh hour.
A lawyer for an investment company believed to be linked to the co-founder of low-cost airline MYAirline, was the latest in a long list of suspects investigated by the police following the suspension of MYAirline's operations.
On Oct 17, police arrested the co-founder of the local airline, along with his wife and son at their residence in Shah Alam to facilitate investigations under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
