Malaysia Airlines has apologised to a Malaysia Cabinet minister.

This was after a flight he was on got delayed, which led to him missing a meeting with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Airline apologises for causing defence minister to miss meeting

On June 25, Malaysia Airlines issued an apology after being slammed by the country's defence minister, Mohamad Sabu, for causing him to miss a meeting with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in London, The Star reported.

The country's national carrier stated that it deeply regretted the inconvenience caused and added that the delay had been due to safety issues.

Additionally, the airline stated that it also made arrangements for clearance at Heathrow Airport to be as efficient as possible upon arrival.

As per Malaysia Airlines in a statement:

"The airline was aware of the Minister's meeting and spared no expense to ensure that the aircraft was safe to fly as safety is of the utmost importance at all times for the airline."

Defence minister states he regrets the inconvenience caused

According to an official statement released by Mohamad on Twitter, he had been due to meet Mahathir in London, on June 16, during a pit stop, while en route to France for an official visit.

However, a delay of approximately two-and-a-half hours in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 resulted in the meeting being unable to take place.

The Star reported that Mohamad had boarded flight MH002, which was scheduled to arrive in London at 5.55am on June 16.

However, the delay meant that the plane only arrived at 8.26am instead.

Mohamad stated that the inconvenience was "very much regretted" given that the sole purpose of his pit stop was to meet Mahathir.

Mohamad then concluded by stating that he hoped such an incident would not happen again in the future.

Here is the tweet:

pic.twitter.com/mbYN9GS258

— Mohamad Sabu (@MSabu_Official) June 24, 2019

Translation of the tweet:

"MAS FLIGHT DELAY CAUSED THE DEFENCE MINISTER TO FAIL TO MEET THE PRIME MINISTER

Defence Minister YB Mohamad bin Sabu was scheduled to have an important meeting with YAB Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in London, England on June 16, 2019.

However, due to the delay of Malaysia Airline’s flight MH0002 which lasted for close to two hours and 30 minutes from Kuala Lumpur on the night of Jun 15, the scheduled meeting failed to take place.

The Defence Minister made a pit stop in London solely to meet with the Prime Minister while he was on the way to France for an official visit.

This inconvenience is very much regretted and we hope Malaysia Airlines will not repeat this again in the future."

Malaysians slam defence minister

Many Malaysians did not take kindly to Mohamad's remarks, and criticised him instead for displaying pettiness that was unbecoming of a minister.

Translation:

"Just resign, Mat Sabu. Such nonsense coming from a defence minister."

Translation:

"You're really not fit to become a minister. You're just embarrassing the country. Just take the bus if you're going to London next time."

One commenter also said that Mohamad should have sought an explanation from Malaysia Airlines before releasing a statement, given the carrier's recent history.

Translation:

"Usually flight delays have their reasons. Maybe due to safety issues, they don't delay flights as and when they like. MAS is being very cautious after what had happened to their flights previously. Next time, ask for an explanation from MAS before releasing a statement."

Related stories:

Top image collage from Malaysia Airlines and Mohamad Sabu Facebook

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