Malaysia launches its first sharia compliant airline

THIS airline is very different to most around the world. Would you fly with this airline?

MALAYSIA launched the maiden voyage of its first sharia-compliant airline on Sunday.

Rayani Air took off from the capital Kuala Lumpur to the resort island of Langkawi.

“We are the first Malaysian airline to be sharia-compliant based on guidelines by relevant authorities,” the company’s managing director Jaafar Zamhari told Malaysia’s Star newspaper.

“We are proud of this.”

In accordance to Islamic guidelines, in-flight meals are halal — meaning that animals must be slaughtered according to Islamic procedures and contain no pork — and alcohol consumption is strictly prohibited. Female Muslim flight crew are required to wear headscarves while non-Muslim crew are to be decently dressed, managing director Jaafar Zamhari told reporters.

There will also be prayer recitals on the plane before takeoff.

Emirates is sharia-friendly — it doesn’t serve any pork products on flights.

There are already other sharia-friendly carriers operating around the world. Emirates doesn’t serve any pork products on their flights and Etihad has a travel prayer before takeoff. And the U.K.-based Firnas Airways is planning to offer similar flights next year, according to a Bloomberg news agency report.

Malaysia has a moderate Muslim-majority population, but conservative attitudes are rising.

The company is a collaboration between an oil and gas company, Merdeka Jayabumi Enterprise and mining company, Terus Maju Metal.

This article originally appeared on Fox News.