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U.S. restores Malaysia’s Category 1 air safety rating
October 3rd 2022
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reinstated Malaysia's Category 1 rating a month short of three years. Read More » Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), parent company of Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), Firefly and other subsidiaries, welcomed the rating upgrade as did LCC, AirAsia, and Malaysia Airports. “MAG is pleased to support CAAM as part of a task force set up to identify root causes, corrective action and measures in response to the downgrade in 2019,” MAG said. “We are confident the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia, led by Dato Captain Voo, will make significant contributions to the development of civil aviation’s safety and security in Malaysia.”
In November 2019, the FAA issued a directive that stated the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) was to be downgraded to Category 2 International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating because it had not met International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards. At Category 2, Malaysian airlines were prohibited from launching flights to the U.S., but existing flights between the two countries were allowed to continue. At Category 1, airlines can inaugurate routes to the U.S. and U.S. carriers can codeshare on services.
“Category 1 safety rating will not only permit us to expand our network, but stabilise the country’s aviation industry as a whole,” AirAsia Aviation Group Limited group CEO, Bo Lingam, said.
Malaysia Airports managing director, Dato’ Iskandar Mizal Mahmood, added: “From the airport’s perspective, this will assist our efforts to attract more airlines to Malaysia and increase the country’s network connectivity and hub potential.”
