Malaysia Airlines urged to ban in-flight alcohol

A consumer group has urged Malaysia Airlines to ban alcohol from all domestic and international flights.

The Rural Malaysia Consumer and Ecology Association (Rural Malaysia) released a statement calling on the national airline to “take a brave and principled step”.

Secretary-General M.S. Anuar Mahmod insisted it isn’t a religious issue but about “social responsibility, flight safety, public health and national identity.”

The group wants Malaysian Airlines to follow the likes of Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, EgyptAir, Iran Air and Royal Brunei Airways - all from countries where alcohol is heavily restricted or banned outright.

But tourism industry leaders are warning that banning alcohol could impact not only the airline’s bottom line but Malaysia’s international image, too, news hub Travel Mole reported.

It would negatively impact the country’s reputation as a tolerant nation, they say.

Sri Ganesh Michiel, president of the Malaysian Tourism Federation, says the availability of alcohol on board is simply what global travellers expect. It doesn’t mean the airline is being culturally insensitive.

It will put the airline at a competitive disadvantage, tourism stakeholders say.

“Malaysia is known as a moderate tourism country. We emphasise values like tolerance, acceptance, and inclusiveness," said Nigel Wong, president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents.

"That’s what makes Malaysia so appealing as a tourism destination.”

Are you being lied to when you choose a bottle of wine?

Do you ever take a look at a wine label to see what the level of alcohol is? 

If that bottle of wine comes from Australia. New Zealand or the US then there is every chance you are being deceived. 

At a time when people are increasingly concerned about facts pertinent to their health, all three countries allow a tolerance of up to 1.5% of alcohol by volume on wine labels. 

That means a wine labelled as being 13.5% might actually be 15% - and completely legal. 

Leading international wine communicator Robert Joseph recently described the anomaly as “either laughable or reprehensible or both.”

And similar tolerance - sometimes more - can cover tolerance of grape variety/region/vintage. 

“One might reasonably say that, when it comes to informing the public, the wine industry is taking the proverbial piss,” says straight-shooting Joseph on LinkedIn. 

Figures released by the American Association of Wine Economists pinpoint the three major offenders, but others are also guilty. 

In an era when technology is easily able to quantify alcohol levels, such tolerance appears out of step with consumer demands. 

But, of course, labelling has long been a contentious issue.

It is not so many years ago that many French wines were "bulked up", or even comprised large percentages of fruit sourced in North Africa - not that you would ever have known it from the labels.