KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Health (MOH) will screen passengers arriving from Los Angeles and New York for any obvious symptoms of the swine flu virus and quarantine action will be done if necessary, similar to the procedure adopted during the SARS scare in 2003.

In a statement yesterday, Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) director of operations, Datuk Tajuden Abu Bakar, said the national carrier would assist in expediting the process as this exercise would invariably cause some inconvenience, especially for passengers with connecting flights.

“We will do our best to minimise this although this exercise is expected to slow down the incoming flow of traffic before the immigration lane. Currently, no travel restrictions have been issued.

“At this stage, Malaysia Airlines has not seen a drop in travel demand and we are still operating as normal. We are in constant and close touch with officials from Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAB), MOH and other airport operators to discuss handling procedures and how best to manage this issue,” he said.

Tajuden said in the meantime, MAS passengers who had already booked for travel to Los Angeles or New York could make changes to their flights at no charge from now until the end of May 2009.