PETALING JAYA: A power-related disruption led to the breakdown of the Baggage Handling System (BHS) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 over the weekend, says the Transport Ministry.
Following investigations, the ministry said the root cause has been identified, and immediate and long-term mitigation measures are being implemented to prevent recurrence and to strengthen system resilience.
“At approximately 4.54pm on April 18, a 132kV Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) reserve at the Bukit Raja substation tripped, resulting in a voltage dip that affected KLIA operations.
“This disturbance caused a failure in the BHS controller, leading to a major system shutdown affecting both departure and arrival baggage processing,” the ministry said in a statement following an emergency coordination meeting chaired by its secretary-general Datuk Seri Jana Santhiran Muniayan yesterday.
According to the statement, the ministry has immediately mandated a technical investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and weekly progress reports by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB).
It said CAAM has been instructed to carry out a detailed technical and operational probe into the incident, while MAHB must submit weekly updates on baggage system stabilisation and recovery efforts as part of enhanced oversight measures.
“The root cause has been identified as an external electrical disturbance that caused a voltage dip, which subsequently affected KLIA’s baggage handling control system,” the statement said.
Although supported by Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems, six UPS units were affected during the incident, exposing weaknesses in system redundancy and resilience.
“This incident has clearly highlighted gaps in infrastructure resilience that must be urgently addressed,” the statement said, adding that while the Business Continuity Plan was activated, the scale of the disruption exceeded existing operational scenarios.
“The system responded, but the magnitude of the disruption went beyond what was previously modelled. This is why both technical and operational frameworks must now be strengthened.”
The statement added that MAHB’s weekly reporting requirement and CAAM’s technical probe are critical to ensure transparency and accountability.
“We need continuous monitoring through weekly updates from MAHB, and a thorough technical investigation by CAAM to fully understand the failure points and close all gaps,” it said.
A Cabinet Note on the incident will be tabled tomorrow, outlining findings, corrective actions and long-term infrastructure improvements for KLIA.
Last Saturday, the disruption delayed baggage delivery between two and four hours for a significant number of arriving passengers following a baggage-handling system failure at Terminal 1.
Despite the disruption, flight operations remained unaffected with no delays or cancellations reported.
