A Date with Rayani

A Date with Rayani

Little more than a week ago, Rayani Air began flying. Since its announcement, Islamophobes, Munafiks and Anti-Malay Muslim bigots* have been spewing all forms of bile, puss, vomitus, venom and excrement online. Incidentally, I needed to go to Kelantan on an urgent family matter. I admit that Rayani Air was not my first choice but my favourite airlines were all fully booked at the times that I preferred to fly, so I thought I would give Rayani Air a try. 

When I logged to their website, I learnt that they are having promotion and my return flight to and from Kota Bharu would only cost me RM 170 which was very pleasant indeed. Thus, I booked my flight. The booking done, I paid online, printed the receipt and flight itinerary.

On Friday, I took the ERL to KLIA 2 and I was pleasantly surprised that the ticket was still RM 35 and not RM 550 as announced recently. Wait! Perhaps the revised fare is to be RM 55, not RM 550 per direction. I’ll verify this later.

I arrived at KLIA 2 after a short uneventful trip. Made my way to the Rayani Air check in counter at counter S. The counter staff were friendly and helpful. The check in was smooth and uneventful. I made my way to the departure lounge, did a little shopping, used the toilet facilities, had a coffee and some food, and finally arrived at departure lounge J5. I checked in and took a seat. They then announced that the flight was to be delayed because the plane’s arrival from KB was delayed. This was nothing new. In fact, a delay of 15 minutes is nothing compared to some delays that I have had to endure with other airlines. We boarded the plane and we took off about 15 minutes later than the initially designated time as earlier announced.

The plane taxied normally and the take-off was smooth both of which indicate that the pilot was indeed qualified to fly the plane which was a great relief to the passengers but would be a great disappointment to the critics mentioned earlier.  At around this time, just before the plane took off, the co-pilot came on the PA system and made a few announcements. At the end of the announcement he said that he would be reading an Islamic prayers that used to be said by the Prophet PBUH each time he started a journey. He invited the non-Muslims to join us by praying in way of their own respective religions. The prayer he recited was a short one.

Arabic Transliteration

Bismi-Allahi wa al-hamdu li-Allahi. Subhana-alladhi sakh-khara la-na hadha wa ma kunna la-hu muqrinin. Wa inna ila Rabbi-na la munqalibun.

Meaning

In the name of Allah, and Praise be to Allah. Glory unto Him Who created this transportation, for us, though we were unable to create it on our own. And unto our Lord we shall return.

I guess some of you would be inclined to argue that the plane was man-made but to my understanding there are two salient points in this prayer:
(a) the plane was made by man but who made man?
(b) Man made the plane out of steel and other substances, who made those substances?

A few minutes into the flight, the air crew gave us snack boxes that contained a vanilla cupcake, a packet of peanuts and some fruit juice.  They also sold other food items. I bought a cup of coffee which cost rm 5.  It was a three in one Nescafe in hot water.

The flight was smooth. We landed in Kota Bharu exactly one hour and five minutes after taking off in KLIA 2. All in one piece.

The return flight was much the same except I could not bring my bag onto the plane as a carry-on because it was two kilogrammes over the allowed weight limit. The return flight was also delayed by fifteen minutes.  They said the weather enroute from KLIA was not ideal.  Again, this was not a problem as compared to some other delays on other airlines that I have taken.

On the return flight, I slept a little bit. They did not sell coffee on this leg of the journey because the weather was unsatisfactory and we were getting tossed around a little. I think it was when we were flying over the Titiwangsa range. I could not be sure but judging from the cloud formations below us, I think we were flying above storm clouds.

We cleared the bad weather after about fifteen minutes. The rest of the trip was smooth and I dozed off a little. I woke up again when I felt the plane descend.  Looking out the window, I saw that we were not too far from the ground: maybe 15,000 feet or less. The landing was smooth. We taxied a bit then docked at KLIA 2 J5 again.

I exited. Made my way to the baggage reclamation. Stopped to use the toilet. And finally arrived at the conveyor belt type thing. The baggage did not take too long to arrive and luckily my bag was among the first few to be unloaded. It also arrived in one piece. About half an hour later, I was on the ERL heading to KL Sentral. In retrospect, my entire trip was very uneventful which is just the way I like my flights.

There were a few things that were important for anyone flying Rayani Air to understand.

A.    The airline is Syariah compliant which means, among other things, that the food is halal, they recite prayers before each flight, the crew wears Islamic clothing which includes the hijab, and they greet you with, “Assalamualaikum”.

B.    It is the airline that is Syariah compliant, you are a passenger which means,

a.    You do not have to be Syariah compliant: no need to wear the hijab and the rest.

b.    You do not have to give salaam if you do not want to, especially if you are not a Muslim or if you are just not a pleasant person with good manners.

c.    You do not need to have a beard to fly Rayani Air. In fact, most of the male, and all of the female, passengers did not have beards.

d.    The food is all precooked on the ground. No one slaughtered any animals enroute.

e.    You can be of any race, religion, creed, sexual orientation and perversion so long as you conduct yourself in a civilized manner.  I would think that if you were to show up wearing a Klu Klux Klan style robe and hood, you not be allowed on board, but I’m just speculating. If you do try this, do let us know what happens.  That is if you are allowed to leave freely. If you find yourself sent to the mental hospital, I’d ask you to tell us of the experience when they release you… IF they release you.  

I do however, see how all that pleasantness, hospitality, and warmth can be extremely off-putting for someone whose mind is brainwashed by the diseased reporting on CNN, FOX and a few other.

So,

Did I like travelling on Rayani Air? – Yes, I did.

Did I find travelling on Rayani Air pleasant? – Yes, I did.

Would I travel on Rayani Air again? – Yes, I would although I would decide on the basis of the details of those trips respectively.

Would I travel of Rayanni Air exclusively? Of course not, it doesn’t go everywhere.  My choice would still be on the basis of the convenience and cost of the flight.

Would I recommend Rayani Air? Probably.

Strangely however, there were so many children on the plane this time. Perhaps it was due to the school holiday season.

One more thing, some are accusing the two owners of this airline, who just happened to be Indians, of all sorts of unpleasant things.  The way, I see it, they saw a niche in the market and they took advantage of it. In doing so, they made our airlines scene more competitive. I don’t see anything wrong with it.

Note:
* the labels are added for some cheap publicity after all who can afford to turn down publicity these days cheap or otherwise.