KUALA LUMPUR: Faster take-off and landing periods are in the works for flights at the KL International Airport (KLIA), says the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM).
This comes with the implementation of High-Intensity Runway Operations (HIRO) procedures there, according to CAAM chief executive officer Datuk Capt Norazman Mahmud.
He said the trial run began on Thursday (Dec 19) with the full rollout expected sometime next year.
Explaining further on the HIRO, he said there are currently three runways serving specific purposes in KLIA - one for landing, one for departures and another for both.
“But under the Hiro, we can use all three simultaneously.
“We want to make full use of the infrastructure,” he said during a media appreciation luncheon here on Friday (Dec 20).
He added that HIRO will allow aircrafts to take off, land and even reach their gates faster.
“KLIA is big and sometimes you are on one side and the take-off lane is right at the opposite.
“If we can use the runway closest to them, it only takes five minutes for take-off.
“However, we still have some details to iron out like the parking space alongside more data collection,” he added.
Norazman said remote air traffic control centre towers are also among CAAM’s plans moving forward.
He said they will first be rolled out at the Penang International Airport as well as the Johor International Airport beginning next year.
Norazman, however, did not specify any exact time frame for it to take off.
“Remote towers will be different from the conventional ones as the personnel are not stationed at the towers itself but at a separate location instead,” he said.
However, he said this will not be applicable for KLIA owing to its high-traffic.
The ultimate goal, he said, is to implement the remote towers nationwide in stages.
This will then see all air traffic control centre operators being stationed at designated centres near KLIA, Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and Kuching in Sarawak.
He also explained that the gradual consolidation of remote air traffic control centres will take place whenever an existing air traffic control centre is due for renewal.
“When that time comes, the renewal project transitions towards remote digital towers instead. At the same time, we will be developing the consolidated centres,” he said.
