MAHB: No immediate plans to build a third terminal for KLIA

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has clarified that there are no immediate plans to build a third terminal for the KL International Airport (KLIA), a day after the airport operator said it is "seriously looking" at the new terminal plans.
Instead, it said the KLIA main terminal expansion, modification and systems upgrade are being planned and slated to be built in the next five years.
"KLIA currently has a combined capacity of 75 million passengers per annum and in 2017 it had registered 58.6 million passenger traffic movements. This means that the airport as a whole still has ample capacity to cater for immediate future traffic growth," MAHB said it a statement today.
However, it noted that the 20-year old KLIA main terminal is already nearing its capacity of 30 million passengers per annum and as such, plans are already underway to upgrade and expand the terminal in order to add further capacity of between 15 million and 20 million more passengers.
Facilities that have been identified to undergo enhancements and upgrading are the baggage handling system and the aerotrain. The existing terminal building will be expanded and modified to increase the efficiency and facilities such as boarding gates and apron parking.
"These upgrades and expansion will be completed within the next five years," it added.
At 3.50pm, MAHB's share price gained 3 sen or 0.3% to RM8.84 on some 464,700 shares done.