Flyers have recently taken to social media to announce their annoyance that MAS did not make it clear that alcohol is no longer available on short-haul MAS flights.

British pub owner Geoff Siddle, who has been living in Malaysia for 20 years and has supported many of The Expat Group’s events in the past, said he had asked for a beer on a flight to Phuket last week, but was denied the drink. Siddle was flying business class but was told that the airline apparently stopped serving alcoholic drinks on any flights less than three hours’ long in January.

This happened again on Siddle’s business class return flight, where a stewardess turned down requests from all six passengers for alcoholic beverages.

“The passengers are unaware of these things. It’s not a low-cost flight where you buy a muffin and a cup of water. It’s a fully paid flight.”
– Geoff Siddle, speaking to Malay Mail Online

This caused critics of the trend towards Islamisation in Malaysia to speak out, even though Malaysia’s first Shariah-compliant airline Rayani was suspended for three months in April.

“We are the flag carrier for a diverse and multi faith nation and in response to the preference of the majority of customers, we no longer serve alcoholic beverages for flights less than three hours beginning 1 January 2016,” MAS said in a statement to Malay Mail Online.

“As flights less than three hours primarily comprise of customers originating from Malaysia, this policy would be welcomed. On flights over three hours, we have a broader profile of customers and to cater to this profile, alcoholic beverages will continue to be served with no changes on our policy,” the national carrier added.