KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Airlines operating at Penang International Airport (PEN) should do their part by ensuring enough airline staff are on the ground to facilitate the check-in process, said Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB).

PEN senior airport manager Mohd Nadzim Hashim said airlines must also ensure facilities such as self-check-in kiosks and self-baggage drop (SBD) are in operation at all time as it would help reduce the long queues and ensure a seamless experience for passengers.

“Checks in the last two days have shown that at least two of the self-check-in kiosks provided by the airlines are not operational and in fact, some SBD counters have also been used as manual counters due to lack of staff to guide passengers on how to use the SBD facility,” he said in a statement today.

PEN according to him has a total of 61 check-in counters with more than 30 of the counters were dedicated to the local airlines operating in the airport.

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“However, our daily observation shows that not all are manned, even during the daily peak period between 11am to 1pm.

“Usually only about 70 per cent is being utilised due to insufficient manpower resources by the airlines. No doubt, this can lead to long queues at the airport,” he added.

MAHB is awaiting development order approval from the Penang Island City Council to fund and undertake expansion at PEN as proposed in the Malaysian Aviation Commission’s (MAVCOM) Regulated Asset Base framework.

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“Construction work is expected to start in the first quarter of 2020 and the first phase of the expansion up to a capacity of 12 million passengers per annum will take three years to complete,” said the airport operator.

MAHB shares fell 10 sen at the close to RM8.37 with 2.57 million shares changing hands. — Bernama