Malaysia Airlines reiterated today that it has always adhered to all existing guidelines stipulated by the Ministry of Health and other authorities in other countries in the management of Sars.

MAS senior general manager for corporate services Dr Mohammadon Abdullah said this in response to news reports today regarding the issue of MAS not extending its cooperation to the Taiwanese health authorities in addressing Sars.

He explained that in the latest situation in Taiwan, MAS was alerted at 2.30pm o­n May 22 by Sheraton Taipei that o­ne of their guests from US could be a Sars suspect.

"However, we decided to transfer our cabin crew to another hotel, Yuan Shan Grand Hotel, as a precautionary measure for the safety of our staff", Mohammadon explained in a statement.

Stringent requirements

He stressed that it has always been MAS aim to render all assistance to the regulatory authorities in combatting Sars.

"We are continuously implementing the stringent requirements of the health authorities for all our passengers and crew.

"We also conduct regular briefings to our front liners, in particular our cabin staff, o­n Sars symptoms and immediate measures to be taken in handling Sars suspect cases.

"We believe that our o­ngoing efforts have greatly contributed towards the successful prevention of Sars and we will continue to give our full commitment to all the regulatory authorities at home and abroad," Mohammadon added.