24 August 2019
By Hashini Kavishtri Kannan
Passengers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) have expressed satisfaction over the manner in which Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) handled the technical glitch which hit the air gateway on Wednesday.
Forty-five year old Anjali Gautham said despite being informed by airport authorities of the anticipated delays, she and her daughter had a smooth experience at the check-in counter.
“MAHB has always given me satisfying services each time I come here. My check-in today took only 15 minutes,” said Anjali who was flying to New Delhi.
Asked if her flight was delayed, she said her flight was supposed to depart at 6pm, but had been re-timed to 7pm.
“That’s okay with me. It is normal to experience flight delays,” she said.
Chris Anns, 60, who was on transit at KLIA for his onward journey to Perth, Australia, experienced a smooth check-in.
“My wife and I were informed of the system disruption but honestly we didn’t experience any hindrance throughout the checking-in process.
In fact our flight was also on time,” he said.
Malaysian Yazid Mohamed,50, said he arrived five hours early to the airport, after learning of the disruption.
“To my surprise, my check in was done in less than 10 minutes. Everything was smooth. No complaints,” he said..
The technical glitch on Wednesday affected the Flight Information Display System (FIDS), check-in-counters, Baggage Handling Systems (BHS), and WiFi availability at KLIA and klia2.
It’s understood that many international airports had also experienced technical glitches which caused operations to temporarily cease.
Airports around the world have experienced cyber attacks, protests and strikes which caused them to shutdown temporarily.
Last year, London’s Heathrow Airport halted dozens of flights due to a “technical issue” affecting lighting on runways, said a MAHB employee.
Flight delays also took place in United Kingdom and Ireland due to a fault in the air traffic control centre. This affected airports at Heathrow, Stansted, Cardiff, Dublin, and Glasgow.
KLIA amd klia2’s operations which were affected by the technical glitch was later found to be due to an IT systems disruption.
As of 4pm today (Aug 24), operations were proceeding as usual at departure gates and check-in counters.
Checks also showed that KLIA’s WiFi was back online.
Gone was the long queues of passengers who had to endure having their luggage manually checked-in over the last three days. The disruption also led to the delay of dozens of international flights.
Almost 1,000 KLIA CARE ambassadors were pressed into service, working around the clock to provide check-in assistance, information and comfort to frustrated passengers.
Following the system outage, MAHB replaced the failed network equipment which caused the glitch. The new equipment is now being tested and closely monitored for stability.
In a statement on Friday, MAHB group chief executive officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin said that since the replacement of the network equipment, there has been progress in network stability.
Source: www.nst.com.my
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