MAHB ready for ‘travel bubbles’, says CEO

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is ready to accommodate “travel bubbles” when the country reopens its borders, said group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh.

He said the airport operator had implemented additional measures to ensure the safety of passengers, including placing thermal scanners at airports, making the use of face masks compulsory, and limiting entry and exit points at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

“We have continued operating throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s just that the number of flights were reduced. Even at the peak of the pandemic, we were handling 5,000 to 10,000 passengers a day at KLIA. Now that travel restrictions are lifted, MAHB would have to scale up.

“What could be a bottleneck in the passenger flow is the Covid-19 testing, so we need to ensure that we are ready to handle that,” he said after MAHB’s annual general meeting.

Shukrie said the test would usually take a couple of hours to complete, which could affect the passenger flow.

Malaysia is considering implementing travel bubbles with Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.