MASWINGS Sdn Bhd, which operates rural air services in East Malaysia, has apologised to a passenger in Baram for denying him the right to board a flight from Miri to his home in Long Banga on February 14, despite him having a valid ticket. 

The regional airline admitted that a flaw in its online booking system and safety concerns prevented it from allowing Gabriel Jau Liran to board the flight.  

Regretting the inconvenience caused to Liran, a community leader of the ethnic Saban group, MASwings said Liran’s booking was “unintentionally auto-cancelled by the system due to Long Banga being an offline station with no live check-in facilities and reliable internet infrastructure”. 

It said as such, all check-in processes were done manually. 

MASwings added that when Liran turned up at Miri airport, the flight could not take in any more passengers “due to seat limitation imposed into Long Banga”. 

It stated that all the other confirmed passengers were checked-in and due to flight weight restrictions to meet safety requirements, their check-in counter staff could not accept Liran. 

The Borneo Post, which Liran approached to air his grievance, reported that MASwings had reduced the number of passengers that flights to Long Banga could carry to only nine. 

Liran, who flew to Miri for a medical appointment, said he was forced to spend four more days in Miri before he could find a seat to go home. 

He also had to pay RM10 to purchase another ticket for the flight back on February 18. 

MASwings operates a twice-weekly flight from Miri to Long Banga, a community of about 2,000 people of the ethnic groups of Saban, Kelabit, and Penan, who are mostly timber workers and civil servants. – February 21, 2023.