Subang Airport to handle single-aisle aircraft operations as early as June

KUALA LUMPUR: Single-aisle aircraft operations will resume as early as June at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, also known as Subang Airport, as the terminal is being expanded to handle more passengers and jets.

The resumption comes 26 years after all narrow-body aircraft operations were moved to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in 1998.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) senior general manager for strategy Megat Ardian Wira Mohd Aminuddin said the expansion included building up to five parking bays for narrow-body planes and six parking bays for ATR planes.

The terminal expansion is under Phase One of the Subang Airport Regeneration Plan (SARP) announced by Transport Minister Anthony Loke in February last year.

“Work has started on the apron side (of the terminal). Subang Airport will have three to five parking bays for jets. Those jets are for any of the airlines (that operate out of the terminal).

“We also have another three to four parking bays (to be built) which we’re discussing with the airport team, as well as remote bays. From June onwards, there would be new jet operations (out of Subang Airport),” he said in an interview.

However, Megat Ardian did not disclose the amount of the Phase One SARP project nor the developer. He said the expansion started in December.

Upon completion of Phase One, the Subang Airport terminal will be able to handle single-aisle aircraft such as the Boeing 737, Airbus A320 and A321.

The terminal will be able to handle up to three million passengers annually from the current 1.5 million.

Currently, Subang Airport handles turboprop and business jet operations.

Megat Ardian said MAHB was also looking at the air traffic space together with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia to offer slots to airlines interested to operate at Subang Airport.

He said those airlines using Subang Airport, such as Malaysia Aviation Group’s Firefly and Batik Air, could apply for new slots.

“Airlines that are currently operating out of Subang (Airport) can keep their slots. They can convert those slots from ATR to jets,” he said.

In October last year, Batik Air chief executive officer Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy said the airline would scale down its turboprop operations and focus on narrow-body planes instead.

Megat Ardian said the Transport Ministry was engaging with local carriers to finalise the airport slot policy before they submitted their applications starting next month.

The slots will be opened to Malaysia-based carriers on a first-come, firstserved basis.

Airlines had expressed their interest in writing to MAHB, including national carrier Malaysia Airlines and other lowcost carriers, to operate from Subang Airport, said Megat Ardian.

He added that the airport operator had been constantly engaging with airlines to understand their operational and network plans as well as the type of aircraft that they planned to use.

When asked if Subang Airport would “cannibalise” KLIA’s passenger traffic, Megat Ardian said it would not happen as the airport could only handle up to eight million passengers a year compared to KLIA’s total capacity of 75 million passengers yearly.

There is also no land or space to extend the Subang Airport runway or build a second one.

“Subang Airport will focus on the point-to-point market. There are no transfer facilities. We’re not providing transfer facilities or buses to KLIA (from Subang). We will not increase the runway length and we will not put in another one because that’s the maximum that we can go,” he said.

Phase Two of the SARP will see the Subang Airport terminal increasing its capacity to handle up to five million passengers per year while Phase Three will see eight million passengers annually.

Megat Ardian said MAHB was discussing with the Transport Ministry about phases two and three of the SARP.