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PETALING JAYA: KL International Airport’s new Low Cost Carrier Terminal,
located about 1.5km from the main terminal, will be able to handle 45
million passengers yearly.
A new 4km runway will also be built with the LCCT, which is expected to be
operational in the third quarter of 2011.
Unveiling Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd’s (MAHB) plans for the new LCCT, its
chief executive officer Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad said work on the RM2bil
project would begin in June.
“It will be designed to handle up to 45 million passengers a year and be
connected to the main terminal via an extended Express Rail Link (ERL) and a
new side road,” Bashir said at a press conference yesterday.
“With the new LCCT, KLIA would be able to handle up to 90 million passengers
a year.”
The present LCCT would then be reverted into a cargo handling terminal.
The new LCCT, spread over 150,000 sq metres, would be larger than the main
terminal with retail and food outlets to ensure passenger comfort.
There are plans for a 6,000-vehicle parking complex, parking bays for 70
planes and an integrated transport hub for buses and taxis.
“We are also taking the views of various airlines into account,” Bashir
said, adding that AirAsia had requested at least 95,000 sq metres for the
new LCCT.
Bashir said 10,000 sq metres of the space would go towards setting up
AirAsia’s headquarters, which would be sited away from airport operation
areas.
He said landing and aircraft parking fees and airport tax would most likely
remain unchanged.
“The Government decides on all aeronautical charges and airport tax, not
us,” he said, adding that MAHB would fund the project through loans.
“We have received letters of offers from several sources,” he said, adding
that tenders would be called in the next few months.
Bashir added that KLIA’s master plan took into account long-term use of
infrastructure and land to handle up to 120 million passengers annually.
Currently, only 30% of the entire complex and land are used.
A joint proposal to build a new low cost carrier terminal in KLIA East@Labu,
Negri Sembilan, by Sime Darby and AirAsia was rejected.
Bashir said the plan to build the new LCCT near the main terminal was part
of the National Airport Master Plan for Malaysia to strategically develop
all 24 airports in the country over 50 years.
“This is to ensure KLIA will grow into a significant regional hub.”
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