Ravi Alagendrran, who set up the airline early this year and is the chief executive, urged the public to be patient as the airline was new and had a lot to learn and improve upon.

His apology was made in a posting on Rayani Air’s Facebook page a few hours after the government announced a suspension notice would be issued tomorrow for breach of its operating certificate.

He apologised to all passengers for the airline’s failings in the past few weeks. “We at Rayani Air regret the inadequacy of our service and will try to improve soon,” he said.

He thanked Rayani Air staff and pledged that “Rayani Air will return”.

The airline, which bills itself as Malaysia’s first shariah-compliant airline, stopped flight operations on Saturday after a strike by pilots caused flights to be cancelled on Friday.

There have been allegations of internal sabotage within the company, while staff members have claimed that there were safety issues and complained of unpaid salaries.