SEPANG– Malaysia Airports is heartened by the confidence shown by the government of Malaysia in extending the tenure of the operating agreements (OA) for the airport operator to operate, manage and maintain airports in Malaysia until 11 February 2069.
Earlier this morning, the Ministry of Transport had announced that the cabinet had approved the OA extension, replacing the previous two OAs signed on 12 February 2009 with four new OAs i.e. OA for KLIA, OA for Designated Airports in Peninsula Malaysia, OA for Sarawak Airports and OA for Sabah Airports.
Malaysia Airports Group Chief Executive Officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin thanked the government and said, “We are very pleased with this recent announcement as it signifies the trust that the government has put in us to contribute towards the growth of the Malaysian aviation industry and the country’s economic development. We are fully committed to continue developing Malaysia as a strong aviation hub within the region.”
According to Raja Azmi, a major difference between the previous OAs and the new ones are the clustering of airports according to regions. This is to ensure that the operation and management of airports in Malaysia can be made more sustainable in the long term. On top of which, the framework of the new OAs will also provide greater flexibility to Malaysia Airports in undertaking the necessary development projects or initiatives aimed at improving airport infrastructure and services while providing the government with better revenue.
“Plans are already in place to replace ageing assets, improve inter-terminal connectivity, increase and optimise airport capacity and digitalise the airport environment to provide better operational efficiency, improve service levels and most of all continually delight our airport guests. For example, we are highly committed to making all our airports QoS-ready by 2020,” he added.
Raja Azmi had also stated that there will be several financing models that may be considered for the various airport development initiatives and he is confident that these will be attractive propositions for the capital markets.