Grand anniversary celebration in appreciation of the 58 million passengers and recognition of the 30,000 strong airport community that make up Malaysia’s premier gateway and national icon
SEPANG - KL International Airport (KLIA) celebrates 20 years of service excellence and joyful memories as an aspiring global aviation hub in a grand celebration today to mark two decades of serving the nation. The momentous event was held at the airport with more than 600 guests joining in the celebration that aimed to appreciate passengers and recognize the airport staff who have played a role in contributing to the success of KLIA all these years and putting it on the world map as a global hub. The day-long celebration that was filled with endless exciting activities resonating our local culture for a joyful Malaysian experience was graced by the chairman of Malaysia Airports, YAM Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail.
KLIA opened its doors on 30 June 1998, serving 13 million passengers per annum (mppa) and 38 airlines in the first year itself. Fast forward to 20 years later, the airport, with the launching of its 2nd terminal, klia2, recorded 58.6 million passengers in 2017, a growth of 11.2% from the previous year. KLIA is now the world’s 12th busiest airport for international passengers and among the Top 12 Airports in the world for the Airport Service Quality 2017 in the ‘more than 40 mppa’ category. The list of airline partners also grew over the years, contributing to the additional local and international routes and flight frequencies. There are more than 60 airlines operating at KLIA now, making the airport a preferred global aviation hub. Since its opening, KLIA has been continuously experiencing remarkable growth in passenger movements and significant expansion of local and international routes through various enhancement initiatives of the airport’s facilities and services as well as joint partnerships with various airlines and key tourism players that are aimed to strengthen its position as a preferred hub.
The acting group chief executive officer of Malaysia Airports, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin who was also present at the celebration said that the KLIA 20th anniversary is rather special compared to the previous years as it marks 20 years of the presence of Malaysia Airports in the aviation industry. Therefore, the organization is taking the opportunity during this ‘Open Day’ to recognize and celebrate the people who have been contributing continuously in making KLIA a successful airport. He said that it is important to understand the roles and responsibilities of all the different units that make up the airport community as everyone functions as a huge family in facilitating a seamless passenger journey.
Further to that, Azmi explained on the exciting theme, ‘Joyful Malaysian Experience’ that is incorporated into the celebration this year to resonate the Malaysia Airports’ total airport experience promise. He said, “Our visitors and passengers can experience a fun-filled event with many activities lined up including cultural performances, a Malaysian Wedding showcase, Malaysian Food Sampling, lucky draw and a 20-foot birthday cake for those celebrating their birthday together with KLIA today.”
As the celebration is also aimed at acknowledging the passion and dedication shown by the various airport staff all these years, Azmi said that Malaysia Airports will also recognize service excellence during the event. He said, “Apart from the celebration, we will also be recognizing service excellence by awarding 17 people across all our airports nationwide with the CARE Awards presentation. This is line with our continuous commitment in delivering quality services to our airport users.”
This year, Malaysia Airports will be rewarding 11 best frontliners and 6 outstanding departmental units who have provided memorable customer service experiences and handled passenger feedback with pure dedication from the various airports across the nation through the Customer Affairs & Resolution Excellence (CARE) Awards Presentation.
As KLIA takes the lead in the latest initiative to embrace Airports 4.0, which is the current industry standard for a digital transformation in processes with emphasis on connectivity and real time information reporting, the airport is proud to launch the MYairportsapp, a mobile app as part of its achievement in its 20th year of operations. The app was introduced in the Google Playstore and Apple App Store early this month to assist passengers in planning their journey from home to the airport efficiently through live updates on flight information, queue time at the checkpoints, way finding and the various retail and dining promotions that are available as they head to the boarding gate.
Throughout its 20 years of service, KLIA has also earned many global recognitions. They include the “World’s Best Airport in 15-25 mppa Category” by ACI ASQ for year 2005, 2006 and 2007;
“World's Best Airport for Immigration Services Award” by Skytrax in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2017;
“World Airport Award for Staff Service Excellence in South East Asia” by Skytrax in 2010 and 2011; “Large Airport of the Year Award” at CAPA Awards for Excellence in Asia Pacific Aviation in 2014.
During the KLIA 20th anniversary celebration, one of the main highlights included rewarding the 108th millionth, 292 millionth and 633 millionth passengers who passed through KLIA on that day; and the 82 millionth and 135 millionth passengers for klia2. Malaysia Airports also gave away an iPhone X to a lucky 20-year-old who was born in June 1998, the same month when KLIA was opened. The search for eligible ‘20-Year-Old June Babies’ for the lucky draw started on the social media platforms of Malaysia Airports and drew more than 200 responses from enthusiastic 20-year-olds worldwide over a period of 2 weeks.