17 July 2012
THE government made the right decision in wanting to build the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) — the new low-cost carrier terminal — as the existing one can no longer accommodate the surge in passengers using the terminal, the Dewan Negara was told yesterday.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakri said the current terminal could not be upgraded as there was insufficient space.
"The new terminal will be able to accommodate up to 45 million passengers and will have a floor space of 257,000 square metres. This equals 25 square metres for every passenger as compared to only 11 square metres per passenger at the existing terminal.
"The terminal will also have an Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd’s (ERL) system which will link the new terminal to the main airport, offering seamless travelling for passengers between the two terminals," he said in reply to Senator Datuk Syed Ibrahim Kader during question time.
Abdul Rahman said the new terminal would have a multi-level parking facility which will have 6,000 bays compared to 2,813 parking bays in the open parking lot at the old terminal. He said aerobridges would be built to cater for all, including the disabled, pregnant women and children.
To a supplementary question by Senator Maijol Mahap, Rahman said there was no reason for any low-cost carrier to not want to move to the new terminal as the government had the best interests of passengers and the low-cost carriers in mind in building the new facility.
"The present site of the LCCT is meant to be temporary because it is a cargo area. Sooner or later airlines can’t operate there because it is congested. The cargo operations need to be expanded. Besides, the new terminal will have better facilities.
Rahman added that the new LCCT was not only for AirAsia but also for other low-cost carriers.
It has been reported that the klia2 is on track to be opened by April next year, with 50 per cent of the development completed to date.
Source: www.nst.com.my
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