Enough excuses – action, please!

MAHB’s failure to address list of KLIA issues continues to irk Malaysians and tourists.

FIRST impressions count. In a five-star hotel, customer experience is paramount especially at the front office – the first point of contact if you want your clients to be repeat customers.

This hotel analogy is particularly apt for Malaysia’s “front office” – the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The entry point or gateway to our country makes a huge difference to tourists who would otherwise consider coming back here.

But all is not well it seems at Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), the company that manages KLIA and other airports in the country.

The litany of issues our main airport faces is not new. In fact, two years ago I wrote of the same problems – KLIA’s woes have been well documented.

Baggage handling issues, inadequate and unclean toilets, lack of front-line workforce, especially Immigra­tion Department officers, and of course the big one – the aerotrain debacle.

It is inexcusable that after more than two years and spending RM460mil to fix the primary transport system from the main terminal to the satellite building, it has once again fallen into a state of disrepair.

What message are we sending to foreign visitors when the first thing they are asked to do upon disembarking from the plane is to be herded into buses before reaching the Immigration counters?

Has anything changed in the last two years? Not much, but in addition to the ones listed earlier, we can add water leakages that have seen certain parts of the terminal flooded and a chaotic drop-off system at the front of the departure gates.

In less than two weeks we usher in Visit Malaysia 2026. There is high expectation for a record number of visitors to the country – an estimated 47 million, the majority of whom will be coming through KLIA.

Can we be assured that the litany of problems MAHB has to deal with will be settled? In the next three months – January to March – we are going to celebrate two major festivals, Chinese New Year and Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which will see a spike in domestic travel. Will Malaysians continue to suffer the countless painful inefficiencies of KLIA?

In an unprecedented move this week, Malaysia Airlines squarely pointed the finger at MAHB after the former fell behind its target for mishandled baggage this year.

In a press briefing on Monday, Malaysia Airlines’ senior leadership team revealed that around 800 of the carrier’s luggage were being mishandled on a weekly basis. That is a shockingly high number but not surprising as hoardings around some of the baggage carousels at KLIA do not appear likely to be removed anytime soon.

“That has impacted our performance with regard to mishandled baggage and has also impacted our brand,” the airline said.

Malaysia Airlines also said the aerotrain interruptions at KLIA and the issue of congestion are not good for customer experience.

Interestingly, Khazanah Nasional Bhd is the common shareholder of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), which runs Malay­sia Airlines, and MAHB which operates KLIA.

MAG’s press conference was telling. Our national carrier unveiled plans for increased fleet expansion by 2030, buying new aircraft and including new destinations.

But the cautionary note struck was if KLIA could keep pace with these expansion plans.

Based on what we have seen these last two years, the answer would be unlikely. MAHB does not appear to have a backup plan (or even a backup generator as seen by the 20-minute power outage at KLIA in August).

It is baffling that such failures continue to occur. These failures reveal glaring shortcomings in MAHB’s standard operating procedures. And every incident elicits an apology from the Transport Minister who then proceeds to admonish the airport operator, which in turn promises to address the issue.

These pledges include the much-vaunted replacement aerotrain which was to be in tandem with an airport makeover that will include self-baggage drop-offs, a redesign of the check-in counters, new baggage handling systems, and new lounges and food and beverage outlets.

But Malaysians are fed up with apologies and promises. Account­ability and concrete action are needed.

Our airport operator needs better leadership, but more than that we need a motivated workforce at our main airport.

KLIA is the first point of contact for tourists, our “front office”. We rightfully take pride in our Malaysian hospitality, but it is time we extend the same pride to our airport services, infrastructure and facilities.

The wake-up call has come and gone. Spare us the excuses.