PUTRAJAYA, Sept 15 — Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is in talks with the government and airline operators on the proposed expansion of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

Its managing director, Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, said although the plan was not a ‘big bang’ approach there was still a requirement to add more aircraft stands at the airport, which handled 49 million passengers last year.

"As the main gateway into Malaysia, it is essential for KLIA to portray an image that it is keeping with the country’s aspirations to achieve developed nation status,” he told reporters after attending the sneak preview of Reimagining Airports, a documentary on the making of klia2, at Golden Screen Cinema Alamanda here today.

He said MAHB was currently getting feedback from airlines operating at KLIA, among them, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo, British Airways and Emirates, to expand the parking bays.

"Only after that, we will know the needs before we can draw up a plan for provisions to implement the expansion works,” he said.

On reports MAHB’s planned to spend US$1 billion (RM4.12 billion) to improve KLIA, Badlisham said: "I have been misquoted. In India, we were talking about KLIA Aeropolis and airport development, which will cost about RM4 billion.”

Badlisham said most of the spending would go to the Aeropolis, an aviation hub filled with firms offering air cargo, logistics, aerospace and aviation services.

On another note, Badlisham said, he was confident klia2 would achieve its target of 30 million passengers before 2025 since the airport had already experienced steady growth since its two years operations.

The passenger traffic number movements for last year stood at 26 million while its growth in the first six months of this year, was nearly 12 per cent more when compared to the same period last year.

"We expect it to surpass the target mainly from domestic flights, particularly from Kota Kinabalu, Kota Baru and Langkawi,” he said. — Bernama