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Malaysia to Start Nationwide Upgrade to its Airports

Malaysia to Start Nationwide Upgrade to its Airports
Kuala Lumpur International Airport © OwnWork

Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB)will embark on an initiative to expand and upgrade its key airports at home, as it looks to capitalise on the growing tourist boom in Southeast Asia.

MAHB's managing director Badlisham Ghazali said that Langkawi airport would have an upgraded terminal with an annual capacity of four million passengers, up from the current 1.5 million.

In addition, the Kota Bahru, Penang, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu airports will also undergo an expansion and upgrading phase.

Kota Kinabalu airport | klia2.info
Kota Kinabalu airport | klia2.info

He adds that the airports operator is partnering with the Malaysian government to explore establishing a brand new airport in central Malaysia, north of Kuala Lumpur, as well as in the eastern state of Sarawak.

There are also plans to expand Kuala Lumpur International airport's KLIA 1 terminal by increasing the number of aircraft contact piers. This will raise its annual passenger capacity to 30 million, from the current 25 million.

MAHB is looking to develop a satellite terminal, which will have a capacity of 10 million passengers. When added to KLIA 2 terminal's capacity of 45 million, KLIA will have a total capacity of 85 million passengers, compared with 70 million today.

KLIA 2 airport | thestar.com.my
KLIA 2 airport | thestar.com.my

Ghazali adds that KLIA has land for expansion "going into the next 40, 50 years… for four or five runways", and that MAHB's airport expansion and upgrading plan "goes hand-in-hand" with Kuala Lumpur's own decision to upgrade Malaysia's airspace management with improved air traffic control towers.

Separately, besides China and India, Ghazali says MAHB's next growth markets are the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"ASEAN has been encouraging trade, and building tourism promotions in each country is getting a lot easier. This is not only because we are becoming closer as a region, but also because of the growing middle-income population."

Langkawi International Airport |kwiknews.my
Langkawi International Airport |kwiknews.my

Ghazali says more people are travelling for both leisure and for business within ASEAN, and that has been helped by the rise of low-cost airlines funnelling traffic from greater China and India.

He adds that MAHB has also been able to secure international flights into non-Kuala Lumpur airports, and has been seeing steady origin-to-destination growth at three particular airports: Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi and Penang.

The airports operator's forecast was about 6.5% passenger growth in international travellers for 2017, but over the last six months, the figure has hit double digits and MAHB now a 9.5% increase for the year as a whole.

Meanwhile, work on a total revamp of passenger facilities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) will begin this year to stem its rapid drop in international rankings, says the overseeing body's top man.

Ghazali said this was necessary to make KLIA efficient again.

KLIA was ranked 34th for 2017 compared with 24th in 2016 in the survey by Skytrax, a British-based consultancy. "This is not just about improving efficiency ... a total revamp is being planned," he said.

Source : FlightGlobal | The Straits Times

Akhyari Hananto

I began my career in the banking industry in 1997, and stayed approx 6 years in it. This industry boost his knowledge about the economic condition in Indonesia, both macro and micro, and how to More understand it. My banking career continued in Yogyakarta when I joined in a program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),as the coordinator for a program aimed to help improve the quality of learning and teaching process in private universities in Yogyakarta. When the earthquake stroke Yogyakarta, I chose to join an international NGO working in the area of ?disaster response and management, which allows me to help rebuild the city, as well as other disaster-stricken area in Indonesia. I went on to become the coordinator for emergency response in the Asia Pacific region. Then I was assigned for 1 year in Cambodia, as a country coordinator mostly to deliver developmental programs (water and sanitation, education, livelihood). In 2009, he continued his career as a protocol and HR officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, and two years later I joined the Political and Economic Section until now, where i have to deal with extensive range of people and government officials, as well as private and government institution troughout eastern Indonesia. I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief in Good News From Indonesia (GNFI), a growing and influential social media movement, and was selected as one of The Most Influential Netizen 2011 by The Marketeers magazine. I also wrote a book on "Fundamentals of Disaster Management in 2007"?, "Good News From Indonesia : Beragam Prestasi Anak Bangsa di dunia"? which was luanched in August 2013, and "Indonesia Bersyukur"? which is launched in Sept 2013. In 2014, 3 books were released in which i was one of the writer; "Indonesia Pelangi Dunia"?, "Indonesia The Untold Stories"? and "Growing! Meretas Jalan Kejayaan" I give lectures to students in lectures nationwide, sharing on full range of issues, from economy, to diplomacy Less
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