PETALING JAYA: Flights at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang are subject to a curfew and can only operate between 6am and 10pm, says Anthony Loke.
According to the Transport Minister, no midnight flights are allowed there.
“This takes into consideration that its (the airport's) surroundings are residential areas,” Loke told reporters at a press conference at the airport on Tuesday (July 30).
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Loke also said six airlines will resume narrow-body aircraft operations from Thursday (Aug 1) – AirAsia, Firefly, SKS Airways, Transnusa, Batik Air Malaysia and Scoot.
Loke said the resumption of jet operations at the airport comes after all jet operations were moved to KL International Airport (KLIA) in 1998.
“After 22 years, we feel there's a need to redevelop the airport as a city airport and the passenger capacity in KLIA is also packed, with over 25 million passengers annually,” he said.
According to Loke, the first jet operation by Batik Air Malaysia is scheduled to take off to Penang at noon on Thursday, while a Transnusa flight from Jakarta is scheduled to arrive at 2pm.
Loke said the airport was currently limited to handling only propeller-driven aircraft such as turboprops, helicopters, light military craft and business jets.
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“Following improvements for the interim jet operations, the apron was reconfigured.
"Six parking bays are now able to accommodate narrow-body jet aircraft, including the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320,” he said.
Loke also said the terminal gross floor area rose by 6% from 21,467sq m to 22,674sq m, with three additional flight information display systems to accommodate the expected increase in passengers.
“Check-in process is expected to be smoother with 14 common-use counters, four self-service bag drop facilities and 15 self-service kiosks to be installed,” he said.
Loke also said his ministry will propose to the Cabinet on Wednesday (July 31) that automatic gates be installed to reduce passenger congestion at the airport.
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According to Loke, the interim phase of resuming jet operations will see the airport’s passenger capacity increase from 1.5 million passengers annually to three million.
Loke also said plans are in the pipeline to kick-start the Skypark Link, a train service that connects KL Sentral Station to Skypark Terminal at the airport.
“Once the new terminal is ready, the train must be ready. We are looking at the possibility of starting it earlier because the tracks and the station are already there
“It is just a matter of when demand goes up again, and whether or not we are ready for train operations,” said Loke, who hinted that it could be within three years.
He also said the airport's surroundings will be developed into a drone test site and a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, among others.
In February, Putrajaya approved the Subang Airport Regeneration Plan (SARP) to upgrade the airport and its surrounding 477.33ha into three main segments – business aviation, an aerospace ecosystem and a city airport.
The SARP is scheduled to be completed in phases by 2030.
