Flying while halal

A Malaysian airline has started the first Sharia-compliant flights. Will it catch on?

Rayani Air, the first Islamic-compliant airline. Afiq Razali / Malaysia Out

A couple of months after capturing global attention for its “halal” speed dating events, Malaysia is again in the news for launching the first Islamic-compliant airline. Rayani Air boasts that everything aboard its flights will comply with Sharia, from the halal food served to the modest dress of its flight crew.

Some might consider this a gimmick. Rayani would not be the first airline to do things differently: consider SmintAir, an all-smoking airline (now extinguished), or PetAirways, a self-explanatory service that was, well, put down.

Islamic tourism, however, is big business, worth an estimated Dh500bn annually – a bigger market than the United States. It is unsurprising that companies would seek to find creative ways to tap into these consumers. Research is clear that Muslim families seek products tailored to them.

The market will decide whether this catches on or not. But we turn to our own readers to ask: do you prefer an all-halal airline?