Sultan Azlan Shah Airport upgrade to start next year, says Perak MB

IPOH, Oct 20 — Efforts to upgrade Sultan Azlan Shah Airport (LTSAS) here will begin shortly after the budget allocation is approved next year, said Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

He said during the tabling of Budget 2020 recently, the federal government had allocated RM150 million for the purpose.

“The tabling is being made in the Parliament and it needs to be approved first. I believe once it is approved next year, we can start the discussions on the process of land acquisition and so on,” he said.

He said this to reporters after attending the Ipoh Car Free Day programme at Jalan Raja Dihilir here today.

Asked whether the project would affect the surrounding population, Ahmad Faizal said it was likely because the proposed runway would be extended to about 500m.

“The previous plan is to extend the runway by 500m making it a 2.5km stretch to accommodate larger-sized aircraft.

“With the expansion of this airport we believe there are many more routes that we can open, especially to southern of India as well as cities in southern of China,” he said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the preparations to make Pangkor Island a duty-free island starting January 1, 2020, Ahmad Faizal said the state government through the Manjung Municipal Council (MPM) was in talks with several duty-free businesses to open premises on the island.

“I hope that from January 1, people will be able to buy duty-free goods on Pangkor Island. To date, the state government has allocated RM5 million to beautify pedestrian walkways and so on.

“In addition, we are also working closely with the private sector to encourage investment in improving facilities there, including additional accommodation,” he said.

He added that through discussions with the Ministry of Finance, alcohol would be excluded from duty-free items but there was possibility that the cigarettes would be included. — Bernama