MAHB PLANS TO SET UP E-FULFILMENT HUB
Airport operator targets 3.5m tonnes of cargo carried by 2050
BILQIS BAHARI
SEPANG bt@mediaprima.com.my
MALAYSIA Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) plans to set up an e-fulfilment hub for cargo airlines in Malaysia and is targeting up to 20 cargo airlines by 2028, from the 14 air freighters currently.
MAHB managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said the volume of freight carried would be 1.5 million tonnes per year in the next 10 years, as more cargo airlines fly into the country.
He said the growth of cargo carried by air freighters had been flat over the last decade.
“Our target is to see 3.5 million tonnes of cargo carried by 2050. Currently, only 750,000 tonnes are carried to Malaysia each year. This number is relatively low, compared with neighbouring countries,” said Badlisham after the launch of Beyond Borders Schools Phase 4, here, yesterday.
He said the plan to increase the volume of air cargo and build an e-fulfilment hub was part of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Aeropolis master plan.
The higher cargo volume in the country would also provide an opportunity for the e-commerce sector to develop, Badlisham added.
Currently, the main cargo airlines at KLIA are MASkargo, the cargo airline of Malaysia Airlines Bhd, and Pos Asia Cargo Express, the subsidiary of Pos Malaysia Bhd.
MAHB also plans to develop specialised cargo facilities to handle pharmaceutical, halal and cold products.
He said these facilities would be built on a 404.7ha plot within the KLIA Aeropolis area.
“We need to ensure that specialised cargo facilities are built. Our role is to ensure that the infrastructure is ready,” Badlisham added.
Meanwhile, he said MAHB hoped that there would be a higher budget allocation for Tourism Malaysia in the 2018 Budget, which will be announced tomorrow.
Badlisham said the higher budget could help Tourism Malaysia develop the tourism industry and welcome more tourists to the country in the near future.
“I also hope that there would be budget allocated for the agencies that are supporting the aviation industry, such as the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Customs Department and Immigration Department,” he added.
The Customs and Immigration departments needed more support in terms of manpower, said Badlisham, adding that he wanted to see the DCA complete the upgrading works of its air traffic control (ATC) on time.
“There are three runways now at KLIA with 70 aircraft movements per hour. We foresee that after the upgrade of the ATC, there would be 108 movements per hour.
“That means there will be more slots available to commercial airlines and cargo airlines, which in turn means more passenger numbers and higher volume of cargo being handled,” Badlisham added.