28 November 2011
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) would be upgrading the baggage system at the new low-cost carrier terminal, klia2, to be fully automated based on requests made by airlines and this would cost the airport operator an additional RM100mil and push the completion date beyond October 2012, sources said.
It involves redesigning the original baggage system planned for the airport and hacking parts of the airport, which is already 40% complete. The decision on the upgrade of the baggage system only came recently following discussions with airlines, the source said. The original plan was to have a semi-automated system and now the contracts which were awarded early this year would have to be revised.
MAHB would be holding a press conference tomorrow to provide updates on klia2.
klia2, once completed, would be the most modern low-cost air terminal in Asia to cater for more than 30 million passengers and it would also have the longest skybridge in Asia.
The airport is no longer based on its original design where its terminal building was to be sited on a 150,000 sqm area.
To meet regulatory requirements for segregation of international and domestic passengers, the terminal will now be almost double its original size at 255,000 sqm.
“With a bigger terminal building that has a longer runaway and so many other requests made by airlines, including the new baggage system upgrade, the cost to build klia2 will go up to about RM4bil.
“Whatever the reasons, the changes have been made to accommodate the airlines because they would be using the terminal eventually.
“It should be the most modern to meet future requirements,” said another source.
A fully automated baggage system would provide for faster and more efficient sorting of bags and with such an upgrade, klia2 baggage system would be at par with the KLIA main terminal building.
A lot of the additional requests came at the point when the designs were already done and the construction had begun,” said the source.
RAM Ratings, meanwhile, reaffirmed the respective long and short-term ratings of AAA and P1 for Malaysia Airports Capital Bhd’s (MACB)RM3.10bil Islamic medium-term notes programme (2010/2025) and RM1bil Islamic commercial paper programme (2010/2017).
Both facilities have a combined limit of RM3.1 billion in nominal value and are collectively referred to as “the sukuk”. The long-term rating has a stable outlook.
It said MACB was a special-purpose vehicle set up by MAHB to undertake the issuance of the sukuk for the latter.
MAHB is the exclusive 25-year concession holder that operates, manages and maintains the KLIA and 39 other airports in the country.
Source: biz.thestar.com.my
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