Border reopening: Airports nationwide expected to receive 119 flights on first day

PETALING JAYA: Airports nationwide are expected to receive 119 flights on the first day when the country’s borders reopen on Friday (April 1), says Malaysia Airports.

Malaysia Airports said two terminals at KL International Airport (KLIA) will receive 110 flights flying in from various international cities such as Hong Kong, Incheon, Melbourne, New Delhi, Doha, Istanbul and London, among others.

At the Penang International Airport (PEN), it said the airport will receive seven flights - five from Singapore and two from Taipei.

Langkawi International Airport (LGK) and Ipoh Airport (IPH) will be receiving one flight each from Singapore.

Malaysia Airports managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood reiterated the Group’s commitment in making sure that standards at the airports are consistently high.

“For the past several weeks, we have held daily engagements with various airport stakeholders to ensure that airport operations run like clockwork. No detail is too small for our attention.

“Not only do we look at all aspects of the passenger journey, we are also ensuring compliance to all aviation regulatory matters,” he said in a statement on Thursday (March 31).

Among improvements made were shortening the documentation process upon arrival by having passengers complete them on the MySejahtera app before departing from their country of origin.

He said queueing areas at the Immigration counters have been made more spacious for the comfort of passengers and immigration e-gates are also available for use by Malaysian citizens for faster clearance.

“Ground staff will be stationed to help manage the queue and ensure a pleasant experience,” he said.

For passengers’ further convenience, he said there will be private health screening facilities at the international airports that will serve as one-stop centres with easy pre-booking services via their online portals.

“Shuttle buses to and from the satellite building are also available to augment the Aerotrain service.

The Aerotrains will be in operation during peak periods of international flight movements, while shuttle buses are available round-the-clock with a maximum waiting time of only four minutes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) chief executive officer Datuk Captain Chester Voo said as the aviation industry moves towards a safe and sustainable restart, CAAM and industry stakeholders would work together to implement restart measures to ensure a safe harmonised approach.

He said this will help ensure that the restart and recovery in air operations with “new normal” are thoroughly considered and implemented in a structured manner.

“CAAM has carried out effective safety oversight on airports and airlines operators in Malaysia, and is satisfied with the level of compliance to regulations and the new norms.

“This is encouraging as the aviation industry is poised for a safe and secure restart. CAAM would like to applaud Malaysia Airports, and airline operators for taking this compliance seriously in the interest of public safety,” he said.