KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is working on upgrading Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 to address problems in the baggage handling system at these airports, the Dewan Negara was told today.
Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi said the upgrading plan, expected to be completed within the next five years, would also involve the aerotrain replacement programme using latest technology.
“MAHB believes the key factors causing KLIA to steadily lose its position as one of the top airports was due to frequent disruption of its aerotrain services and baggage handling system.
“The facility is quite old, KLIA is 20 years old and so is the aerotrain. MAHB is taking steps to upgrade and modify as well as optimising existing terminal buildings to increase efficiency and passenger satisfaction,” he said.
He was replying to a question by Senator Hanafi Mamat on factors that have led to KLIA’s drop in international rankings year by year on the list of the world’s international airports.
Ab Aziz said the allocations for upgrading the aerotrain service and baggage handling systems were RM300 million and RM250 million respectively.
He said an application was being made to the Immigration Department for permission to use the services of foreign workers to address the shortage of workers at KLIA.
This was because local people were not keen on doing certain jobs at the airport.
“The Immigration Department set a condition of 80 per cent locals and 20 per cent of foreign workers. We have a shortage of workers because locals shied away from ‘3D’ jobs, or jobs considered dirty, difficult and dangerous,” he explained. -- Bernama