29 September 2014
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) does not foresee a big drop in airport traffic or cargo trade in the wake of the much-discussed Goods and Services Tax (GST) on April 1 next year.
MAHB managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said Malaysia had one of the world’s most resilient airport industries that had withstood numerous shocks and still came out in the other end stronger.
“We expect there will be an emotional reaction when GST comes online, but we are certain that it will not impact us tremendously as we have withstood numerous shocks, such as epidemics and both MAS tragedies. GST would be just another industry challenge,” he said on the sidelines of Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2014, here, yesterday.
“Malaysia has a burgeoning middle class with spending power and a desire to travel.”
Going forward, Badlisham expects Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) to continue registering double-digit growth in passenger traffic within the mid to long term.
“Kuala Lumpur International Airport still holds the higher passenger traffic at 47 million per annum, but we expect growth in the lower double digit for klia2 by year-end and over the mid to long term,” he said.
Badlisham said for the upcoming 2015 Budget, he is hopeful that the government would allocate higher funds for the upgrading of airport infrastructure as well as bigger allocation for personnel retentions.
“klia2 is almost three times the size of LCCT and that means a bigger workforce. We employ more people for the maintenance of klia2 and it would be reasonable for the government to address this in its 2015 Budget allocation.”
Aritcle by Lidiana Rosli
Original Source: my.news.yahoo.com
Site Search
Did you find what you are looking for? Try out the enhanced Google Search: