The new KLIA2 budget terminal has begun operations, after seven years of construction, controversial delays and heated debates as to its level of readiness. At 12.05am this morning, the new airport received its first inbound flight, Malindo Air Flight OD1027 from Kota Kinabalu.
Present at the historic first landing were Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) chairman Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad and Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.
The airport’s first takeoff happened at 3.15am, as Flight 5J502 of Cebu Pacific Airways headed out to Manila. Chehck-in services at KLIA2 began at 10.20pm on May 1.
Bernama reports that MAHB released a statement saying that airlines that would be operating out of KLIA2 starting today would be Malindo Air, Cebu Pacific Airways, Lion air and TigerAir. AirAsia, expected to bring in about 80% of KLIA’s traffic, will commence operations there by May 9.
MAHB expects 7,000 passenger traffic movements per day in the initial phase of operations, to surge up to 50,000 passenger traffic movements per day from May 9 onwards.
Gateway@klia2, which duals as a public transportation hub that has a fully gated car park which can accomodate 6,000 vehicles, ERL, taxi and bus service, and retail mall of 350,000 sq ft with over 200 outlets also commercially opened for public today, according to the statement.
The Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) will cease operations on May 9. Immigration, security and customs counters at LCCT will continue to be manned at the LCCT until that date.
KLIA2 is designed to handle 45 million passegers a year, a strk contrast to the LCCT, which was designed to accommodate the traffic of 15 million passengers yearly.
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Photo: Zuraneeza Zulkifli / The Malay Mail Online
