Gabriel shows his ticket from MASwings for his flight on Feb 14.
MIRI (Feb 20): Rural air service operator MASwings has apologised to a passenger who was stopped from boarding a flight from here to Long Banga on Feb 4 despite having a valid ticket.
MASwings attributed the situation to offline check-in at the STOLport (short take off and landing).
In a statement, the airline said the booking was unintentionally automatically cancelled by the system.
“MASwings apologises for the inconvenience caused to Mr Gabriel Jau Liran on Feb 14, 2023, who was travelling from Long Banga to Miri. Mr. 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,” said the airline.
MASwings said all check in processes are done manually in Long Banga and when Gabriel turned up at Miri Airport for the return flight, all other conformed passengers had checked in.
“Due to seat limitations imposed into Long Banga and the flight weight restrictions to meet safety requirement, MASwings check-in counter staff were not able to accept Mr Liran,” the airline explained.
MASwings said it regretted the inconvenience caused to the affected passenger, but pointed out it continues to uphold the highest safety standards, especially into STOLports.
Gabriel was aggrieved when told by counter staff at Miri Airport on Feb 14 that his name was no longer in the system despite his prior booking.
The cancellation forced him to wait another four days in Miri for a flight to return to his village.
Due to unpredictable weather, he had flown out of Long Banga airport earlier for his medical check-up here and was scheduled to return that day.
He told The Borneo Post he wished to highlight his plight as the people in Long Banga and surrounding areas in Upper Baram already face reduced passenger capacity for the twice-weekly flight.
This is often compounded by further difficulties, including unfavourable weather.
Gabriel said the Long Banga STOLport serves a population of around 2,000 people from six villages, logging camps, a school, and clinic.
The other alternative to travel to Miri is by logging road.
The flight from Miri to Long Banga is about 90 minutes, with a stopover at Marudi Airport.