KOTA KINABALU: The Ministry of Transport says the benefits far outweigh the extra costs for low-cost airline, AirAsia, when it relocates to the new Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) terminal scheduled in mid June this year.
According to its deputy minister, Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, the RM1.6 billion new airport is built to cater for the needs of all airline companies including AirAsia and support their growth in the industry. He acknowledges the extra costs involved but believes quality service and infrastructure would justify the expenses.
“The airport has the facilities to meet the needs of all airlines including AirAsia. There are extra costs involved of course but we have built this airport to ensure the growth of the industry,” he told New Sabah Times yesterday.
He was asked to comment on AirAsia Group CEO Dato Sri Dr Tony Fernandez who had said on Friday that the airline was against the relocation, citing higher costs and charges as well as lack of facilities as among the reasons.
He told newsmen then that if the airline had to move out from its traditional home at Terminal 2 to KKIA Terminal 1, its expansion plan for Sabah which includes strengthening the existing routes and the opening of new markets from here all the way to North and South America, Australia, Korea, China and Japan would be affected. And the state could experience a significant drop in the number of passenger and tourist arrivals as a result.
But the AirAsia boss’ stand on the matter however came as a little surprise to Abdul Rahim who said that the airline had in fact signed a letter of undertaking with the Ministry of Transport a few months ago concerning its relocation to the KKIA Terminal 1.
In December 2010, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha had said that the ministry had an understanding with AirAsia to relocate the airline and other low-cost airlines once the upgrading project of the new terminal’s runway and resurfacing work gets completed.
And he disagreed with Fernandez that KKIA would be congested during peak seasons.
“The new airport is designed for fourteen million passengers. Now we have five million. So the question about congestion does not arise. Even after ten years I don’t think we can reach its maximum capacity. So there’s plenty of space,” he explained.
On Fernandez’s concern that the relocation would cost passengers to pay RM51 of Passenger Service Charge (PSC) from what it is now at RM25 at the low-cost terminal, the deputy minister insisted the “good facilities” at KKIA would justify the extra cost. He explained the RM51 applies to passengers going abroad while domestic ones only pay RM9.
According to its deputy minister, Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, the RM1.6 billion new airport is built to cater for the needs of all airline companies including AirAsia and support their growth in the industry. He acknowledges the extra costs involved but believes quality service and infrastructure would justify the expenses.
“The airport has the facilities to meet the needs of all airlines including AirAsia. There are extra costs involved of course but we have built this airport to ensure the growth of the industry,” he told New Sabah Times yesterday.
He was asked to comment on AirAsia Group CEO Dato Sri Dr Tony Fernandez who had said on Friday that the airline was against the relocation, citing higher costs and charges as well as lack of facilities as among the reasons.
He told newsmen then that if the airline had to move out from its traditional home at Terminal 2 to KKIA Terminal 1, its expansion plan for Sabah which includes strengthening the existing routes and the opening of new markets from here all the way to North and South America, Australia, Korea, China and Japan would be affected. And the state could experience a significant drop in the number of passenger and tourist arrivals as a result.
But the AirAsia boss’ stand on the matter however came as a little surprise to Abdul Rahim who said that the airline had in fact signed a letter of undertaking with the Ministry of Transport a few months ago concerning its relocation to the KKIA Terminal 1.
In December 2010, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha had said that the ministry had an understanding with AirAsia to relocate the airline and other low-cost airlines once the upgrading project of the new terminal’s runway and resurfacing work gets completed.
And he disagreed with Fernandez that KKIA would be congested during peak seasons.
“The new airport is designed for fourteen million passengers. Now we have five million. So the question about congestion does not arise. Even after ten years I don’t think we can reach its maximum capacity. So there’s plenty of space,” he explained.
On Fernandez’s concern that the relocation would cost passengers to pay RM51 of Passenger Service Charge (PSC) from what it is now at RM25 at the low-cost terminal, the deputy minister insisted the “good facilities” at KKIA would justify the extra cost. He explained the RM51 applies to passengers going abroad while domestic ones only pay RM9.
Continue reading at: AirAsia’s misgivings on relocation to KKIA Terminal 1 refuted
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