REROUTING due to bad weather and pilots exceeding their flying hours were among reasons for a Batik Air flight’s eight-hour delay on Friday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said.

He said that the flight to Kuching was struck by bad weather en route to Kuala Lumpur (from Kuching) and forced to land in Langkawi, Kedah.

“I was given a full report. The aircraft was forced to divert to Langkawi, and once they reached Langkawi, the pilots had exceeded their flying hours,” he said.

“So a new set of crew members had to be flown to Langkawi, hence the few hours of delay.

“Of course, these are not excuses, but I’m just saying in terms of conditions under which the airline was operating.

“But we hope in terms of handling communications and delayed flights, it can be better in the future,” Loke said at an event in Sepang today.

He said there should be no excuse for poor service.

“We hope delays can be minimised but some of these delays are due to bad weather conditions, such as the incident involving Batik Air,” he added.

Yesterday, he instructed Batik Air to issue an apology over the matter, which left passengers stranded at Kuala Lumpur International Airport complaining of no updates or assistance offered by the airline.

Later in the day, Batik Air, formerly known as Malindo Air, expressed its regret over the delay.

It said it will contact affected passengers to give them special complimentary vouchers.

“The cause of the incident is currently being investigated and we will build on any lapses in our operations for continuous improvement in our customer service delivery.

“We deeply regret that the delays have caused much inconvenience to our passengers and their families,” it said in a statement.

Batik Air explained that food vouchers were provided during the delay but the company was unable to provide accommodation due to nearby hotels being fully booked and no food outlets being open after midnight at the terminal. – December 28, 2022.