Sabah needs new airport, says logistics chief
Published on: Friday, July 28, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah must build a new international airport before congestion becomes a serious problem at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Sabah chairman Ramli Amir said."Beyond this (KKIA), we have to start operating from a new site," he told The Malaysian Insight."Sabah's usual passenger arrivals do not register a double-digit growth, it was actually accelerated by the arrivals of visitors via chartered flights, from China," he said, adding that in 2016, Sabah recorded more than 250 chartered flights as opposed to only 20 in 2010.
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KKIA is positioned to tap into a market of 139.4 million potential visitors within a three- to six-hour flight radius. On top of this, another 34.5 million international visitors pass through major aviation hubs like Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok.The airport now services 180 international direct flights a week, with AirAsia currently holding 49pc market share, followed by Malaysia Airlines with 36pc, other airlines (11pc) and Malindo Air (4pc).The 10-year-old KKIA, built at a cost of RM1.4 billion has the capacity to handle 9 million passengers a year.
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Last year, KKIA received 7.2 million passengers, 3.4 million of which were tourists.The numbers are expected to grow further, which means airport congestion will happen sooner than the five-year timeframe set by the state government, Ramli said.
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According to Ramli, the plan now is to focus on building a new international airport and commence working on it with the remaining time available."It will take at least two to three years for the Sabah government to find suitable land and another three years to build the airport, so it would be on time for operation by 2025," he said, adding that there was not much room for KKIA to expand, given its proximity to the coastline.Meanwhile, any attempted land reclamation at the KKIA site may jeopardise another adjacent mega project: the Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED). The sites share the same beachfront.The Malaysia Aviation Commission (Mavcom) also noted that Kota Kinabalu needed a larger airport because 13 million passengers a year were expected to pass through KKIA by 2021.The airport would only be able to cater for to 12 million passengers without major construction but would be able to take in 21 million passengers a year if an additional building was constructed on the available land next to the terminal.However, according to Mavcom, this would not be feasible for a single runway airport and, therefore, leaving Sabah no other choice but to build a new international airport sooner or later.An RM80 million expansion of the KKIA apron and terminal was announced at the beginning of March last year, with 10 additional overnight aircraft parking bays on the cards.The extension also saw Sabah do away with its Kota Kinabalu Southern Terminal plans on the available land, which was supposed to compliment the Pan Borneo highway project.There was a proposal to relocate the KKIA to KImanis in 2006, but the government finally decided it was more economical to extend the present airport."There have also been suggestions that the new airport would be relocated to Tuaran. Even though they are just rumours, the state still needs to find a suitable land to build the new airport," said Ramli.Meanwhile, Sarawak's plan to open up its own low-cost carrier terminal would not impact Sabah's aviation and tourism industries, said state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Masidi Manjun."Sabah is not competing directly with Sarawak in terms of tourism. We are promoting the state as an eco-adventure tourism destination, unlike Sarawak."Sabah has been able attract younger tourists, who like the sense of adventure and visiting a state rich in biodiversity," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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