Parking woes at Penang airport may soon be over

Travellers welcome the multilevel carpark as they anticipate it will resolve the shortage of parking space at the airport in Bayan Lepas. — Photos by K.T. GOH/The Star

PENANG International Airport’s (PIA) multistorey carpark is expected to open to the public sometime this month.

State infrastructure and transport committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said he was informed by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) that the carpark construction was already 99% completed.

The carpark, which has 2,200 bays, was originally slated for completion in May last year and was supposed to have been completed at the end of 2021.

When contacted, Zairil said: “MAHB expects to open the carpark for public use this month”.

He said the delay was due to MAHB facing issues in its software system installation.

Despite the delay in the carpark’s construction, the building cost remained the same at RM70mil, he said.

It was built on the site of an existing open-air carpark, which had 650 bays.

During construction, parking bays were severely limited and scattered around the airport compound.

The construction of the carpark was part of the PIA expansion project that was mooted in 2008.

However, the expansion work came to a standstill when the government put on hold proposals to build new airports and upgrade existing ones until the aviation sector recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last Oct 5, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said upgrading works at the PIA, which were being carried out by MAHB, would be postponed, with the government currently resolving several issues including land acquisition.

In a March 27, 2021, report in The Star, then MAHB chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said based on the Penang Airport Masterplan by MAHB, the PIA would have the capacity to take in 25 million passengers a year in 30 years’ time.

The 87-year-old airport has undergone several infrastructure expansion over the years, the first starting in 1977.

It was fully operational in 1979 with the capacity to accommodate 1.5 million passengers.

It was later expanded and upgraded in 1998 to accommodate 3.5 million passengers, and up to 6.5 million passengers in 2013.

At present, the four-phase PIA expansion project is on hold, pending finalisation of the National Airport Strategic Plan (NASP).

The NASP study on airport development is expected to be completed in 2023 in line with the National Transport Policy.

Meanwhile, frequent traveller Anisah Ahmad, 44, said the multistorey carpark, once open, would give peace of mind to those flying.

“We will now have enough space to park our cars,” she said.

Anisah, who works as an insurance agent, said she often fly to Kuala Lumpur and Johor for work trips, and having adequate parking space would make life easier for her.

She also noted that PIA should be expanded as its current capacity was not adequate to accommodate future increase in passengers when restrictions for international travellers were lifted.

A. Gunalan, 26, applauded the state government’s effort to build the multistorey carpark which would benefit the public.

“It should have been done earlier, but better late than never,” said the business development executive.

Gunalan, however, hoped that the operator of the new carpark wold not impose exorbitant parking charges once fully operational.

Currently, public parking space rate is RM2 per hour for the first 12 hours, while the rate for parking between 12 and 24 hours is RM24.

Another option is the valet parking where motorists are charged RM6 per hour if it is less than 24 hours and RM40 for 24 hours.

A food trader who wanted to be known only as Aslam, said the new carpark was a sign of development for the airport.

“Why not make our international airport bigger too?” he asked.

He said “since Penang is a top tourist destination among locals and foreigners, having a bigger airport is a necessity in the future.”

“When international borders open, passenger capacity will increase and the airport will need more space to accommodate the growing number of passengers,” he added.

Penang Tourist Guide Association president P.C. Chin said it would be better if the new carpark came in tandem with the expansion of the airport.

“It is about time PIA is expanded, but given the lack of space in the state, the government may have to find alternative ways to do it,” she said.

In terms of tourism and for the industry to expand, she said it would be better to have more international or domestic flights coming to Penang.