SEPANG, Nov 25 — The Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) rapid growth has been instrumental to Malaysia’s economic development, opening up opportunities in trade and tourism, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
Thus, he said, the government viewed quality improvements at the KLIA and klia2 very seriously, while proactively supporting the airports’ operator, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd in various areas necessary for efficient operations at both terminals.
“Malaysia is fortunate in its location, being at the heart of Asean. As such, KLIA is well-positioned to capture growth from the larger Asia Pacific region which is forecasted by the International Air Travel Association to experience among the highest growth rate in air passenger markets,” he said at the 2015 KLIA Awards at the Sama-Sama Hotel KLIA, here today.
Liow said KLIA’s passenger traffic had recorded a 4.4 per cent growth in the first nine months of this year, compared with the same period of 2015.
“It also exceeded the initial traffic forecast of 2.5 per cent for 2016.
“With the opening of klia2, the second terminal serving low cost carriers, KLIA currently caters to 50 million passengers annually, with over 60 airlines serving more than 120 direct destinations.
“This is indeed a far cry from our days at Subang Airport which at its peak handled nearly 16 million passengers annually,” he added.
Liow said the secret to KLIA’s success lies in the synergy of dedicated people including the airport operator, airlines, service providers, government agencies, retailers, contractors and ground handlers who have walked hand in hand to where KLIA is today.
He presented a total of 17 awards at the event, where the winners were chosen based on their achievements respective categories last year in sectors such as passenger movement, growth factor, sales performance, international recognition and service excellence.
Indonesia AirAsia won the Foreign Airline of the Year (Passenger) award, Cathay Pacific the Foreign Airline of the Year (Cargo), MAS Kargo won the Airline of the Year (Cargo), while Air Asia bagged two awards, namely Airline of the Year (Passenger) and Low Cost Airline of the Year.
The Promising New Foreign Airline of the Year went to British Airways and the Best On Time Performance Airline of the Year was bagged by Japan Airlines. — Bernama
