Malaysia Airports to decide KLIA expansion after LCC terminal, revamp - report
KUALA LUMPUR (XFNews) - Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) will make its decision on expanding Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after the completion of a low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) and its financial restructuring exercise, The Sun reported.
It quoted MAHB managing director Bashir Ahmad as saying the LCCT, which will be completed by the first quarter of next year, will free some five mln passenger capacity at the main terminal building.
He said MAHB also recognizes the need to reach an agreement with the government on its financial restructuring.
The issues that still have to be resolved with the government include outstanding lease rental, international and domestic airport taxes, commitment to airport development, as well as concession payment of MYR846.7 million, he said.
"We hope to settle the issues by the end of the year," he said.
KLIA is expected to handle 23 million passengers in 2005 from 21.5 million passengers last year, he said.
For the eight months this year, traffic grew by 10% year-on-year, with the growth fuelled by increased flights and new services offered by carriers from China, India, Indonesia, as well as the Middle East.
Bashir said work on the MYR108 millionLCCT is proceeding as scheduled and will be completed by the first quarter of next year. The LCCT will have a capacity to handle 10 mln passengers a year, he added.
He said the users of the LCCT will be AirAsia and its Thai and Indonesian units, Thai AirAsia and PT AWAir.
Bashir said growth in low-cost carrier traffic, which had been phenomenal over the past two years, is likely to stabilize.
He also said the MYR110 million A380 facility at KLIA will be put up for tender next month.