KLIA runway closes after MAS plane tyres deflate during landing

PETALING JAYA: A runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) will be closed until further notice after a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane's tyres deflated while landing.

"Malaysia Airlines flight MH726 from Jakarta today had two of its tyres deflated after landing safely at KL International Airport at 7.13am.

"Runway 2 at KLIA will be closed until further notice," the airline said in a statement on Tuesday.

Passengers and crew safely disembarked from the aircraft and were transferred to the terminal by bus.

Their baggage was also sent to the terminal by bus.

"The airline will be investigating the cause of the incident on the Boeing 738 aircraft," said MAS.

"Due to aircraft shortage, some flights utilising this aircraft will be upgraded to be operated by the Airbus 330 aircraft and we are looking into deploying the Airbus 380 aircraft to service the Australian routes," it said.

MAS assured that safety is the airline's number one priority and expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to passengers.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) said that flight operation at KLIA are not affected by the runway closure.

"Flight operations were not affected from the closure of Runway 2 due to the availability of three independent runway systems in KUL," it said.