KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1: Batik Air Malaysia wishes to congratulate Minister of Transport Malaysia, YB Datuk Seri Ir Dr Wee Ka Siong; the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM); and the Ministry of Transport Malaysia, on the official announcement by the Hon. Minister that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has restored the air-safety rating for the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to Category 1 from Category 2. With this achievement Malaysia is placed with the highest safety ratings which instils confidence in the safety of Malaysia’s civil aviation.

On November 11, 2019, the FAA issued a notice stating that CAAM did not meet the ICAO safety standards and received a Category 2 rating due to being deficient in areas such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping, and inspection procedures. Under Category 2 rating, the FAA also did not allow reciprocal code-sharing arrangements between US carriers and any Malaysian-based airline.

CEO of Batik Air Malaysia, Capt Mushafiz Bin Mustafa Bakri said, “A return to Category 1 is certainly good news for Malaysia and Malaysian carriers as this enables Batik Air to expand our services to new destinations and more importantly secure the necessary approvals more speedily. The return to Category 1 also means that the FAA will remove any safety concerns it may have had, and will allow Malaysia to boost its tourism efforts as countries are now lifting travel restrictions. Batik Air remains committed in supporting CAAM in meeting ICAO standards, thus ensuring that Malaysia remains in the Category 1 rating following FAA’s recent reassessment of our civil aviation authority.”

Batik Air wishes to thank the Ministry of Transport Malaysia and CAAM for this excellent achievement.