MAHB introduces towing zones in KLIA to avoid traffic congestion, ensure road safety

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), together with the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), has introduced towing zones alongside roads to and from the terminal buildings at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), including the terminal curbside area.

In a statement today, KLIA head of operations, Mohd Arif Jaafar said such a measure was necessary to ensure vehicles would not obstruct the roads and create traffic congestion.

"It is also to ensure road safety as vehicles parked on the road shoulder present a traffic hazard to passing motorists," he said.

He said KLIA had ample parking spaces with more than 11,000 parking lots available at both terminals, with a 15-minute free pass through.

"There are a further 5,500 parking lots available at the Long Term Car Park (LTCP) that is just a short 10-minute ride to the terminals on the free shuttle service provided by Malaysia Airports. The shuttle service runs every 10 minutes.

"On top of that, we have even provided a waiting area with additional 400 parking lots beside the LTCP. This waiting area is also free of charge," he added.

Arif urged the public to be more mindful of their safety and also more considerate in not contributing to traffic congestion.

Motorists who commit these traffic offences would have to pay a fine of RM300, he said.

Source: Bernama | 29 December 2017

AirAsia launches flight connecting Singapore and Bintulu, Malaysia

Flights between Bintulu and Singapore will operate four times a week. (Photo: AirAsia)

SINGAPORE: Low-cost airline AirAsia launched its inaugural flight between Singapore and Bintulu in Sarawak, Malaysia on Wednesday (Dec 27).

With a flight time of one hour and 50 minutes, the route is part of efforts to boost connectivity and drive trade and tourism between Singapore and East Malaysia, said AirAsia in a press release.

Flights will operate four times a week.

"AirAsia is always committed to expanding connectivity to Singapore and these direct flights reiterate our commitment to grow the connectivity in and out of the country," said Mr Spencer Lee, head of commercial at AirAsia.

"We hope the introduction of this new route will bring more visitors into Singapore next year, and this is only made possible by the continuous support rendered by Singapore’s Government and Sarawak Tourism Board."

The maiden flight, which departed Singapore at 9.10am and landed in Bintulu Airport at 11am, was received by officials including Bintulu Member of Parliament Tiong King Sing and Mr Lee Kim Shin, Sarawak's Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

Source: Channel NewsAsia | 27 December 2017

Categorise airports until price differentiation mechanism is ready - Firefly

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should segregate domestic airports into different categories until the price differentiation mechanism, which will classify local airports, is ready for implementation, said Firefly Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer Ignatius Ong.

“They (The Malaysian Aviation Commission) are looking at a systematic (measure) which should have price differentiation between airports, (however) they did say it’s going to take two years to trace (the details of each airport)... they need to do it faster,” he told reporters on the sidelines of Firefly’s corporate social responsibility programme here today.

Ong was commenting on AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes’s reaction on the lack of voices from the industry protesting against the move to impose hike in the passenger service charge, which is scheduled to be implemented next month.

The premium short-haul airline today hosted the “Firefly and Tesco Christmas Treats with Single Mothers and Kids” programme with Tesco Stores (M) Sdn Bhd, whereby they reached out to 70 single mothers from the Selangor Single Mothers Association in Kuala Selangor.

Ong also stressed that the segregation of airports should take place during the two-year interim period before the price differentiation mechanism comes on board.

Looking from the Subang Airport perspective, he said the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and KLIA 2 are two humongous shopping complexes with complete facilities, which included not only aerobridges but also essential facilities such as toilets and facilities for the disabled.

Meanwhile, when asked on the outlook for 2018, Ong said the company had achieved its target of 1.7 million passengers between January and November this year and the company was looking at maintaining the same figure for next year.

“(Achieved) 1.7 million passengers so far, and we expect bigger movements in December due to the school break, holidays and so on,” he added.

On expansion, Ong said the industry was facing overcapacity issue, thus growing the carrier’s aircraft fleet size was not an option.

“Our load factor stood at between 69 per cent and 70 per cent, which means, there is a 30 per cent empty seats to be filled...we will focus on that (improving load factor) before embarking on a decision to improve the current fleet, which now stands at 12 aircraft.

“Normally, an airline would look into expansion when they hit between 78 per cent and 80 per cent load factor,” he added.

Source: Bernama | 19 December 2017

AirAsia tidak jadi operasi dari Lapangan Terbang Melaka?

LAPORAN media utama pada bulan Mei dan Julai 2017 lepas melaporkan bahawa syarikat penerbangan AirAsia bakal beroperasi dari Lapangan Terbang Melaka (LTM) di Batu Berendam, Melaka mulai Oktober atau November (2017) yang lepas. 

Laporan tersebut antara lain mengatakan bahawa AirAsia akan menawarkan beberapa laluan domestik dan antarabangsa dari lapangan terbang ini. 

Namun begitu, setelah memasuki bulan Disember 2017, ramai yang menyedari bahawa rancangan tersebut tidak menjadi kenyataan dan menimbulkan pelbagai persoalan. 

Antaranya, pihak AirAsia tidak pernah mengumumkan bahawa mereka akan beroperasi dari lapangan terbang itu tetapi hanya Ketua Menteri Melaka atau exco kerajaan negeri sahaja yang mengeluarkan kenyataan tersebut. Jadi, adakah kenyataan Ketua Menteri Melaka atau exco kerajaan negeri tersebut boleh diterima pakai? 

Sebarang pengumuman sepatutnya berdasarkan maklumat yang sahih atau sesuatu yang benar-benar dapat dilaksanakan. 'Insiden' seperti ini bukanlah kali pertama melibatkan lapangan terbang ini. 

Setakat ini, hanya dua buah syarikat penerbangan yang beroperasi dari LTM, iaitu Malindo Air dan XpressAir yang menawarkan penerbangan dari Bandar Raya Melaka ke Pulau Pinang dan Pekanbaru. Malindo Air diharap dapat membuka beberapa laluan lagi dari LTM terutamanya laluan Bandar Raya Melaka - Kota Bharu. 

Sumber: Kota Bharu Airport | www.kotabharuairport.blogspot.com