SEPANG – KL International Airport (KLIA) celebrates its 16th anniversary this year and continues to play an important part in the development of the nation’s aviation industry. Since its opening in 1998, KLIA has received accolades in both the domestic and international arena, cementing its position around the globe as one of the best airports in the world, in its class.
KLIA certainly played a prominent role in achieving Malaysia Airports’ goals under its corporate blueprint for 2010-2014, Runway to Success. The outcomes for the three pillars underlined in the blueprint i.e. Traffic Growth, Service Excellence and Commercial Development, hinged on the performance of KLIA.
Malaysia Airports’ strong relationship and collaboration with all its stakeholders were key determinants to its success in becoming a world-class airport service provider. As such, the company is grateful to all its partners, such as government agencies, retailers and concessionaires, airlines, suppliers and vendors for expending tremendous concerted effort in placing KLIA in its current position.
The recent opening of the new low-cost terminal heralds a bright and promising future for KLIA. klia2 has been the launchpad for several innovative offerings such as an air-ground multi-modal transportation interchange and a suite of airport city facilities. In his speech during its official launch, the Prime Minister underscored the terminal’s importance as part of the KLIA system to realise the airport’s potential in becoming the region's leading aviation hub.
KLIA recorded healthy growth for 2013 which was strongly attributed to a number of factors such as increased number of flight frequencies, commencement of new routes from the airline partners and the success of Malaysia Airports’ airline incentive programme. To illustrate this growth, KLIA recorded a total of 47.5 million passengers in 2013 representing 19.1% growth from 2012. The birth of klia2 is projected lead KLIA into handling a total of 52 million passengers per annum thereby putting it in a new league for airports handling 50 million+ passengers according to the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) categorisation.
Meanwhile, for the first five months of 2014, KLIA has registered a total of 20.3 million passenger movements, representing a 12% growth compared to the corresponding period in 2013.
In commemorating its 16th anniversary and as a sign of appreciation to airport users, KLIA feted five lucky passengers in a simple yet special reception. The lucky passengers were chosen based on these criteria:
- The 47 millionth Passenger at klia2/LCCT (Domestic)
- The 66 millionth Passenger at klia2/LCCT (International)
- The 82 millionth Passenger at KLIA (Domestic)
- The 205 millionth Passenger at KLIA (International)
- The 401 millionth Passenger at KLIA (Overall)
This year, KLIA continued its superb streak in Skytrax World Airport Awards when it was voted the second best airport (serving 40-50 million passengers) in the Skytrax 2014 World’s Airport Awards, a most prestigious accolade for the world airport industry. KLIA has been consistently receiving accolades from Skytrax since 2010, which is a testament to the company’s efforts in pursuing its mission of creating joyful experiences by connecting people and businesses.
Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, the Managing Director of Malaysia Airports said in his speech, “We must continue to evaluate and measure the levels of service delivered and understand the areas of improvement required to continue delighting our customers.”
Also present at the anniversary celebration were senior officials of Malaysia Airports and representatives of government agencies, airlines and also business partners.