Malaysian airport struggles as more airlines stop services to country
Malaysian airport struggles as more airlines stop services to country
KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The Malaysian government has established a
high level committee to find ways to counter a run of service
cancellations by major airlines, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
British Airways and All Nippon Airways, Japan's second largest
carrier, have announced they will cease flying to Malaysia by
April while Lufthansa of Germany and Australia's Qantas stopped
their operations over the past two years.
All four airlines cited consolidation and losses for stopping
their operations in Malaysia.
Malaysian aviation authorities have been struggling to turn
the 9 billion ringgit (US$2.36 billion) Kuala Lumpur
International Airport into a major hub rivaling Singapore and
Bangkok ever since it opened in 1998 at the height of the Asian
economic crisis.
Chairman of Malaysia Airports Basir Ismail said Tuesday that
the four airlines' pullout would not affect the airport's
operations because other carriers such as Cathay Pacific and
Emirates Airlines had increased their flights to Malaysia.
The New Straits Times newspaper quoted Basir as saying that
the international airport and another smaller airport which
caters for domestic flights are expected to handle 19 million
passengers this year, a million more than last year.
Tourism Minister Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said the government was
studying problems faced by foreign airlines flying into Kuala
Lumpur that weaknesses in airport operations were not the cause.
"Initial studies have revealed that there were no problems
with KLIA or Malaysia Airlines," the New Straits Times quoted him
as saying. "These (foreign) airlines were facing internal
operational problems."
He said, however, that the airport had problems with late
baggage clearance which had forced some passengers to wait for
hours to collect their bags after clearing immigration.
Kadir said special incentives would be offered to airport
workers to clear the baggage quickly.
He said a Cabinet commission would draw up measures to make
Malaysia's airports more "visitor friendly."