MAHB eyes e-Commerce to drive growth of KLIA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd (MAHB) is eyeing e-Commerce as a promising vehicle to drive growth of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

Managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said e-Commerce is flourishing in this part of the world with the growing propensity among people to shop for almost everything online.

“All the integrators are present here. We will be courting and inviting e-Commerce players to come to Malaysia. I believe it can enable the KLIA to achieve strong growth,” he told Bernama.

He highlighted that intra-Asia trade is growing annually by 6% and e-Commerce alone would be worth about US$88bil by 2025 in Asia.

“E-commerce players are global in nature and we need to accommodate them.

“About 100 ha will be allocated for the overall development of air-cargo and logistics of which e-Commerce is a part of, as well as meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions (MICE) and aircraft, maintenance, repairs and overhaul (MRO) activities,” he said.

Of this, he said, 50 ha would be allocated just for air-cargo and logistics (including e-Commerce). This overall development is part of the ambitious Aeropolis project.

“Our five-year plan (2016-2020) will cover all these three segments,” he said.

Badlisham said MAHB is also positioning KLIA to take advantage of the phenomenal growth in Asian air travel.

“Just looking at the development taking place across Asia in areas of trade, business and investments, there is considerable scope for growth,” he added.

Substantiating his bullish view on Asia, he said 40% of all new aircraft deliveries would be made in the continent.

“KLIA is very well positioned to gain access to Asian markets with good connectivity to key regions,” he added.

MAHB recorded a total of 88.83 million passengers in 2016 at all its airports in the country, a 6% growth over the previous year. — Bernama