SUBANG: Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SAAS), also known as Subang Airport, will officially see the resumption of narrowbody aircraft operations from 1st August this year.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the narrowbody aircraft operations with six airlines is part of the interim phase of the Subang Airport Redevelopment Plan (SARP) before the project kickstart its second development phase in the next three years.
"This is only an interim phase which is expected to last two to three years as we want to build a new terminal and increase the capacity of Subang Skypark Terminal to become a city airport.
"The interim preparations and operations are important to see how well our operations can run smoothly," Loke said at a press conference after a walkabout at Subang Airport today.
Loke also said slots that were given to airlines currently are limited due to the interim phase with one narrowbody aircraft operations per hour to ensure that there would be no congestion of passengers at the arrival and departure halls.
Currently there are a total of 15 slots for narrowbody aircraft movement out of Subang Airport.
The slots were distributed to the six airlines that are operating the single-aisle aircraft type including FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, AirAsia, Batik Air Malaysia Sdn Bhd, PT TransNusa Aviation Mandiri (TransNusa) and Scoot Pte Ltd.
Business Times reported on July 11 quoting aviation industry sources that up to 15 slots in total for single-aisle aircraft movement are believed to be given to airlines operating out of Subang Airport.
Loke said there will be a curfew on narrowbody aircraft movement from 10pm to 6am at SAAS given the airport's close proximity to residential area.
The interim phase of Subang Airport with the resumption of narrowbody aircraft operations will see the airport handling up to three million passengers per year from the current 1.5 million yearly.
Loke said the construction works for the interim or first phase of the SARP began on 1 Dec 2023 and completed on 30 June 2024.
The works include reconfiguring the apron to have six parking bays for single-aisle aircraft and expansion of terminal gross floor area to 22,674 meter square.
There are also 14 common-use check-in counters, four self-service bag drop facilities and 15 self-service kiosks to be installed while new immigration counters have been placed at the arrivals and departures as well.
"We have been waiting for the return of jet operation in Subang for a long time and we will give new life to the aviation sector of our country and especially at Subang Airport," Loke said.
The first airline that will fly out of Subang on 1 Aug with its Boeing B737 is Batik Air to Penang followed by TransNusa from Jakarta.