Mount Ruang eruption: Malaysia Airlines, Airasia flights to Sabah, Sarawak cancelled

KOTA KINABALU: Several Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia flights between Sabah, Sarawak, and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) were cancelled today due to the volcanic eruption at Mount Ruang, Indonesia.

Malaysia Airlines, in a statement on its official social media X account today, informed that the airline will cancel several impacted flights and advised passengers to check on their latest flight status and travel advisory.

"Cancellation of flights on April 18, 2024 due to Mount Ruang volcanic eruption. Due to a volcanic eruption that occurred at Mount Ruang, Indonesia, Malaysia Airlines will be cancelling several flightsto/from KL International Airport (KUL) to Sabah and Sarawak," said the statement.

Meanwhile, the office of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup said in a statement that the flight to carry the remains of the late Tan Sri Joseph Kurup to Kota Kinabalu scheduled today was cancelled. "I will inform you of the latest flight time after receiving feedback from MAS (Malaysia Airlines)," he said.

AirAsia said in a statement today that eight of the scheduled flights between KLIA and Tawau had been cancelled. Also cancelled are eight flights between KLIA and Kota Kinabalu, making it 16 flights impacted between KLIA, Kota Kinabalu and Tawau.

AirAsia said it has notified all affected guests, while guests who are travelling to or from the affected destinations are encouraged to check their registered email and mobile phones for cancellation notifications.

"AirAsia guests travelling to/from the affected destinations are strongly encouraged to check their latest flight status at airasia.com/flightstatus.

"AirAsia is continuing to monitor Mount Ruang volcanic activity and will provide more information on the latest developments," said the statement.

In PUTRAJAYA, AirAsia group chief executive officer Bo Lingam said affected AirAsia passengers can move their flights by making a one-time change to any new travel date within 30 days from the original departure date on the same route without additional cost, subject to seat availability.

"They can also retain the value of the flight booking in the guest's Airasia Rewards member account for future travel with AirAsia to be redeemed within 730 calendar days (2 years) from the issuance date.

"The travel date of the new booking can fall on any date within the published flight schedule on airasia.com," he said in a statement today.

AirAsia flights to and from nine airports, namely Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Sandakan, Labuan, Miri, Sibu, Bintulu, Kuching and Brunei, are affected by the cancellation starting 10 am today until 8 am on April 19.

Bo Lingam said guests who wish to make booking changes online may do so at airasia.com or AirAsia MOVE (previously known as airasia Superapp).

"We understand that this may cause inconvenience to our guests and we apologise for the disruption to their travel plans. However, the safety of our guests and crew is paramount and we appreciate our guests' understanding and cooperation during this time," he said.

-- BERNAMA

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