KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 — Rising demand for low-cost air travel and rapid changes in the aviation sector are to blame for cost overruns and construction delays at KLIA2, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was told at a briefing by Transport Ministry officials today.

“There are reasons that contributed to the increased cost, the aviation industry is now more favourable to low-cost travel, resulting to changes in planning such as on the size of the terminal,” PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed told reporters.

The initial budget for the airport was set RM1.6 billion but has since ballooned to RM4 billion.

“I won't say the PAC is satisfied with the briefing but we will study the information given and come up with a conclusion,” he added.

The Pulai MP said transport ministry officials spent three hours answering all of PAC's questions today, but that the committee will need more time to study the matter.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, who also attended the briefing, said the committee will need to further study the information given today.

"The ministry has given explanation to all our questions; whether it is acceptable or not, we will further discuss," he said.

Meanwhile, Nur Jazlan explained that the government had initially planned to accommodate only 25 million passengers at the new terminal, but later increased the number to 45 million because of a forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that the demand for low-lost travel will rise.

"So the government had to make the changes, expanding the terminal size, resulting in other issues including adding aerobridges, changing the baggage handling system from manual to automatic, so there are changes to specifications, contributing to the hefty price to build the terminal," he said.

The veteran politician also pointed out that while the KLIA2 project is fully-funded by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) through its own sources, the mega project is of public interest as it will be one of the main entry points to Malaysia.

"We hope to table in the next [Parliamentary] session, there are still five other reports that we need to go through from the previous session that we need to go through and table first.

"We are listening, we are evaluating, we are still keeping an open mind on the conclusion," he said.

Over a week ago, Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said he was cautiously optimistic that the project will be ready on May 2, after being delayed for five times.

Although he said the cost will not go over the latest price tag of RM4 billion, he said he will only reveal the actual cost after the project is completed.

He said the certificate of completion and compliance (CCC) is expected to be completed by the end of the month, while the operational readiness and airport transfer (ORAT) will be conducted early next month.

Today, Nur Jazlan said the PAC will visit the site during the ORAT testing to ensure the project will be ready as promised in May.