MAHB'S VISIONARY INITIATIVES EXTEND BEYOND PRIVATISATION

By Kisho Kumari Sucedaram

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- Amidst the hustle and bustle of travellers at the airports, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is seen to be rapidly transforming the airport experience in recent months, especially yesterday due to global IT glitch.

A big applause to the team for helping stranded passengers tirelessly since last night.

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Many international airports were reportedly struggling to handle the chaos. Topping the list would be Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Edinburgh Airport. 

Back home, it is enlightening to see the MAHB team coming together to support everyone impacted.

In a post on X, the airport operator said to ease the situation, it handed out 5,000 bottles of mineral water and bread to affected travellers.

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The team, together with its army of volunteers, is doing its best to assist affected travellers.

It is understood that besides airports and airlines, stock exchanges, rail companies, media companies and banks were also affected. 

Crowdstrike, a US cybersecurity company, admitted to being responsible for the programming error.

Diving more into the continuous efforts taken by MAHB, beyond the boarding gates and arrival halls, one could not deny the revolutionising airport experiences which blend world-class shopping opportunities with seamless travel, despite the logistical challenges posed by the aerotrain.

Away from the headlines and debates over privatisation, MAHB has been diligently enhancing its services and infrastructure, aiming to rival the best in the world. 

Efforts to put up seamless travel experiences 

Efforts include introducing a free trolley crew service at arrival, departure and baggage reclaim areas to assist passengers in lifting luggage. This certainly brought much relief to travellers, especially those travelling solo with heavy bags. Thanks for the service!

Also, to smoothen the shuttle bus journey which replaces the aerotrain, there has been tremendous improvement to smoothen transfers with continuous shuttle buses, coupled with premium shuttles for business and first-class passengers. 

No doubt travellers were furious the moment the 1.5-kilometre railway track connecting the main airport building to the satellite terminal was suspended in March last year, but it is important to acknowledge that MAHB worked tirelessly to provide alternative options.

The journey might have been rough at the beginning but additional buses and staff have smoothened operations.

And let’s not forget online check-in on arrival has shortened the time it takes to reach the boarding gates to less than an hour.

The queuing time for arrivals and departures at immigration has also been reduced tremendously to less than 20 minutes with the adoption of auto gates for visitors from 63 countries.

Auto gates are crucial to reduce congestion with the rise in tourist arrivals compared with pre-Covid travel.

The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is also one of the first airports in Malaysia to enable pick-up services by e-hailing operators.

The writer did a quick check recently among international tourists on the airport enhancements compared to a decade ago.

New Zealand business traveller Robert Greig, 48, said he saw a lot of improvement, especially in the immigration and transit processes, which have significantly become easier and faster than a few years ago vis-a-vis other ASEAN airports. 

“Airport staff are helpful and I have been to a few airports in Malaysia, namely Penang, Kota Kinabalu and Subang. It has been a seamless experience but I hope the aerotrain service will be up and running soon,” he said. 

KLIA’s aerotrain replacement project is slated to be completed by Jan 31, 2025, ahead of schedule.

British tourist Christian John, 35, pointed out that KLIA is a shopping and food paradise for travellers where various well-known outlets have opened such as Hugo Boss, Jibby Chow, O’Briens, Taste India, Taco Bell, and Petit Cafe Chef Wan.

Delivering the highest profit in MAHB history

MAHB’s net profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) soared to RM543.17 million from RM187.20 million in FY2022 on the back of higher revenue, one of the highest in its history. 

It was a profitable year due to a higher gain on fair value of an investment by MAHB and its wholly owned subsidiary, MAHB (Mauritius) Private Ltd in India.

MAHB and MAHB Mauritius divested their entire 11 per cent stake in GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, the holding company managing Hyderabad International Airport in India, to the GMR Group for US$100 million.

Enhancing connectivity 

Furthermore, MAHB is also expanding the country's network connectivity and expects three airlines, British Airways, ThaiViet Jet and 9 Air to begin operations by the end of this year.

KLIA is serving 70 airlines compared with its pre-pandemic level of 69 with intensive efforts to expand the country's network connectivity.

It has secured new airlines, Air Macau, Loong Air from Hangzhou, Turkmenistan Airlines from Ashgabat and Iraqi Airways.

Contributing to the connectivity is Malaysia Airlines, which connects to Male in Maldives, Da Nang in Vietnam, Chiang Mai in Thailand, and AirAsia to Almaty in Khazakstan and Nairobi, Kenya. 

KLIA currently handles 21 scheduled freighters transporting cargo to and from 40 countries and hosts over 200 third-party logistics service providers and freight forwarding agents. In 2023, KLIA  registered about 700,000 metric tonnes of cargo movements.

Other MAHB airports also saw improvement in connectivity such as Xiamen Airlines, connecting Fuzhou to Kota Kinabalu and Flydubai to Penang and Langkawi.

-- BERNAMA