The problem with KLIA

[Sing Yew 1]

I think its a wonderful idea to send it to STAR and NST. Based on my knowledge theres 2 ways to go around getting this problem solved. Firstly..send it to all major newspapers, NST, STAR, MALAY MAIL, BERITA HARIAN etc......and let the media highlight it and we might get some good attention..the other way is to call up ONE newspaper company, for example the STAR and talk to them bout this problem and ask them if they would mind to collaborate with MalaysianWings to highlight this matter. This way, we would get headlines attention instead of our letter juz being under the OPINIONS section or LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Personally, considering the fact that our community at MalaysianWings is kinda moderately sized and we are passionate ppl bout this problem, i would find the 2nd method more viable. Juz like the Bukit Cheraka problem, the matter was highlighted by the STAR before any other newspapers because the STAR was directly involved with the residents to bring the matter to national attention and yup..it caught our PM's attention..bcoz it was on the FRONT PAGE. thats what we need..front page attention...its important to make sure our letter doesnt end up in the OPINIONS section....and yes....i muz say..locating HARRODS at the main terminal is a dumb idea...how many people using domestic services would go to HARRODS..there are even some travellers who think they might find HARRODS again at the SATELITE TERMINAL..so they get on the train...reach the satelite terminal..and find..NO HARRODS...so..its kinda..bad management...i totally agree...MAHB and KLIAB are horrible in managing KLIA and personally i would say if managing KLIA was left to a foreign company or even MALAYSIANWINGS...we the proper resources and knowledge we would do a better job..and KLIA has the potential to be the world's best.....LETS DO SOMETHING BOUT THIS...and DO IT FAST.....as we know..ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS....and lets join forces to make a difference to KLIA everyone!!

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The 2nd option would be a viable one. Even better if we can get hold of NTV7 since they have this prog 7 Di Pihak Anda and also Edisi Siasat, although I think the latter prog would be more appropriate ??

 

So with both print and broadcast media highlighting the issue, it'd perhaps generate all the attention needed ?

 

Harrods is located next to the Aerotrain platform at the MTB, which means passengers flying domestic won't have access to it.

 

And just an update, there is indeed a Harrods Retail Outlet and Cafe at the Satellite Terminal. Saw it when I flew back from ADL on the 30th of June and again on the 16th of July when flying back to ADL. Not sure how long it's been there but definitely not more than 6 mths because I don't recall seeing it around when I flew to ADL the last round on the 19th of February.

 

[Sing Yew 1]

klia - hardware first class, but software (human aspect)  is cargo hold standard. creativity zero. imagination zero.

 

and the terrace window. yakks. damn dirty! i have to bring my own cloth and pocket detergent. 

 

and the limo taxi especially the wira and the perdana....OH MY GOD!!!

 

and they put 'HARRODS' near the shuttle train at main terminal.... FOR WHAT???????

 

and the out of date info monitor screens.....SAD!!!

 

and why McD prices almost double???!!!!!  i always have problems digging my pocket especially when gavin is with me.  heheh sorry gavin

 

MAB thinks the airport so great and hiking up prices is ok. @#$%$#$%!!??

i remember reaching heathrow and saw the billboard advertising the famous battery saying "duracell heathrow and duracell oxford street = SAME PRICE!"

might as well employ malaysianwings to manage. i think all of us can do better.

SEND SEND!!! they wanna call us and scold us. scold laaaaa for all i care. our criticism is for their benefit anyway.

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Oh yes, McD prices are exorbitant at KLIA, and the same applies for almost all food and beverage outlets at KLIA. That includes the Harrods Cafes in both the MTB and Satellite Bldg.

 

Besides that, Internet access costs a bomb as well, remembered one of the places charging like RM 15 for an hour, tht's like almost 1/4 of the amount I pay for my Streamyx services in Malaysia.

 

Which is why, most of the time when I have long transits at KLIA, I would have to put up at the Plaza Premium Lounge. RM 70 or was it 75, free broadband for the 1st 4 hrs, food and free flow of drinks etc, which is quite value for money (benchmarking it with KLIA prices of course).

[Sing Yew 1]

I feel that it's also because of the high costs of all the essentials i.e. food and beverage, internet access and also the lack of things to do in KLIA that makes KLIA less backpacker-friendly as compared to Changi ?

 

I remembered once on my flight back to ADL, there's this guy who was backpacking around SE Asia and was transiting in KUL for a few hours and he was relating to me how expensive food and internet access were in KLIA so much so that it's actually comparable or even more expensive the Adelaide Airport's prices and I had to concur with him.

 

Whereas in Changi, one can watch movies on the various cable channels and also the mini-Cinema or whatever you call it. So passengers can actually kill time pretty easily. Shopping wise they also cater to a wider range of clienteles, by having outlets like Nike etc which we don't at KLIA. Backpackers won't fancy designer labels like Prada and the like when shopping around at KLIA.

 

So, one issue worth giving some consideration would be to make KLIA Backpacker-friendly as well. Quite a fair bit of Australians esp the younger generation go backpacker's style when they travel abroad.

 

It's just my opinion, so feel free to comment and correct me if I'm wrong in any way.

 

[Sanjay Thaker 0]

Thanx for the support and info bout HARRODS , SING YEW...how could i have mistaken the location of HARRODS...oh yeah..its not at domestic terminal..its at the aerotrain area..true!! thanx man!

[Sing Yew 1]

No worries

[Rozhan 0]

Maybe they should set up an international advisory panel (IAP) to advise because they can't manage it properly.... towards making it a world class hub, no less

 

Emm...RM 17+ for a piece of chicken pie and a cup of soft drink at Cafe Mar***...!!

 

Edisi Siasat has done a few segments on the ulats (taxi touts) at KLIA but nothing has changed.

 

When people complain that their bags were pilfered, MAHB will come out with statistics... with only so and so percentage of bags were pilfered out of a certain million figure of bags handled annually. And the big surprise: when the people who were caught doing so recently were.... their own boys in blue

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Well ... When you come to think about it . All these ineffeciency isn't only restricted to just the airport

 

There are many places which have these problems , bad maintenance , not managed well , bad planning . etc etc ..

 

I feel that KL sentral is poorly implemented , Its supposed to be the Central Hub of the capital city , step into that building and it looks like a pasar malam ..

 

Its just not managed well enough , when you're waiting for the KTM commuter , Its like sitting in a sauna , perspiring to no end .

 

A couple of days back I read somewhere that they wanted to demolish the Dataran Merdeka and use it for future development

 

This is national heritage , did they leave their brains or common sense at home when they went to work and made all these riddiculous decisions

 

When you think about it , we're filled with all sorts of flaws .

 

Take a look at the Subang airport , what a waste of money , they built T3 and 3 or 4 years later , its just sitting there , looking like its not maintained at all ..

 

I don't wanna compare Malaysia to Singapore , But I must say , Singapore is much more efficient in doing things and things they do are very well planned

 

Look at their cab companies . Send an SMS and wait for a response and you might end up in a taxi

 

In KL , You tell the cabbie i wanna go here , Tiga puluh ringgit boleh ke bos ?

 

Its like , WHATS THAT ABOUT ! Its all about taking the easy way out

 

How to 'maju' if all of us think like that ? Its all about taking the easy way out

 

We build such a beautiful airport , from the outside , it looks so beautiful , but what happens behind the scenes ? Even their own security team are pinching things from the bags ...

 

What does this say about Malaysians ?

[Radzi 2]

You wouldn't wanna see in the newspaper

 

MAB takes action against founder of MalaysianWings Mr Gavin Andrew For being a smart ass

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They can't. We are not telling lies.

[H C Chai 4]

Regarding internet access. There are a few free internet outlets in the Satellite building, I used them when I was transitting at KLIA in May this year. Connection is a bit funny but I can't complain much since it is free

 

I am a Kuchingnite and use Kuching Airport everytime I came home. The toilets are most of the time very very dirty, even in the departure hall... Toilets in KLIA is slightly better, but for an International Airport, they should be kept sparkling clean all the time like Changi.

 

 

[Azfar 0]

dont forget to send to Kosmo!,Tamil Nesan,Malay Mail,and Harian Metro.

 

[Mohd. Ariffin Bin Jamalludin 0]

report to TV3 ( KARAM SINGH WALIA ). he's da best reporter

[Sanjay Thaker 0]

Just wondering..whats the updates on this matter..has anything been done yet?

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Is anyone going to do anything?

[Sandeep G 1]

hey guys,

 

I'm just polishing up the letter, adding a few things. Sending it to TheStar editorial and NST editorial tonight.

 

Sanjay, If you would like to go ahead and do the translation, I'll send you the new copy via email. If I can't find our email I'll just post it here. Thanks for that!

 

Sorry for the delay, had heaps of uni work!

 

- Sandeep

[Sanjay Thaker 0]

NO probz sandeep...but...are we only sending it to the editorial or are we planning to also co-op with a major newspaper company to do continuous coverage and highlight KLIA's problems?

[Sing Yew 1]

hey guys,

 

I'm just polishing up the letter, adding a few things.  Sending it to TheStar editorial and NST editorial tonight.

 

Sanjay, If you would like to go ahead and do the translation, I'll send you the new copy via email.  If I can't find our email I'll just post it here.  Thanks for that!

 

Sorry for the delay, had heaps of uni work!

 

- Sandeep

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Hey Sandeep,

 

I think it'll also be a godd idea to post a copy of the letter here so that we can all have aread of it and add-on, where applicable to make it as comprehensive as possible.

 

 

[Benjamin Ho 0]

I just send the original post to one of my friend working in The Star's education dept. See if she bring it to the attention of feature pull-out editor...

 

Will keep you guys updated

 

Ben-G

 

[Sandeep G 1]

Good work Benjamin!

 

I have a contact with the StarBiz, its a relative. May be able to try and see if we can work with her.

 

Anyone know somebody from the NST?

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

I hope to see response from others regarding this .

 

More content , more content

[Sing Yew 1]

Good job Ben-G. All the best Sandeep.

A friend of mine is a journalist at NST, Penang. Will see if he can work something out.

 

 

[Keith T 2]

I probably don't use KLIA as much as you guys since the airlines I fly on usually hub at SIN. But I must say I never cease to be impressed by KLIA.

 

The last time I passed through the airport was last year on a flight from SIN. I found the KL Express convenient and comfy, unlike the MRT in SIN which is basically a commuter train like the Tube to LHR and requires you to switch at many interchanges with ur heavy suitcases.

 

Sure KLIA might not be as efficient as the Meccas of airports like SIN and HKG but its sure as hell good. My home airport, MEL is probably the same size as KUL pax volume wise, maybe slightly smaller since its an end airport as opposed to a hub, but its one of the most boring airport to wait around in. Immigration queues at peak hours are a shocker too.

[Sandeep G 1]

There are so many reasons why KLIA doesn’t perform the way it’s supposed to. The principle reason is the evident lack of managerial quality. Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to a lesser extent are to blame. However, these companies and organisations have troubles of their own. The main problem is the lack of funds and the rising costs plaguing the industry. Nonetheless, this combined with the present quality of management is compounding problems deeper for the aviation industry in Malaysia.

 

We can’t lay blame on the staff or customers of these entities; we must lay blame on management. I know the word ‘blame’ is harsh to use and I am sure that the management teams do try to attain a high level of fiscal performance. My concern is why fiscal performance is so poor. We are led to believe that externalities beyond the control of companies such as MAHB, MAS and Tourism Malaysia are the primary reason as to poor fiscal performance. Perhaps its management’s lack of experience with the aviation industry, or perhaps it’s more worryingly something that has metamorphosed from the stereotypical Malaysian corporate culture – see big, think big, do little. We are persistently adopting business models from other countries and using them here in Malaysia with some degree of success. Frequent trips by local corporate committees to the USA, Europe and Australia are undertaken to investigate potential solutions that are aimed at increasing value and profitability. In the case of MAS and MAHB, do we really need to go that far? Let’s face it, a short and relatively inexpensive hop across the causeway would probably save lots of money and time. Then Again, why not fine tune our own Malaysian standards and use these with potentially greater levels of success and profitability. Was it not the aim of the Government in implementing a fixed-value currency to encourage investment within Malaysia, amidst Malaysian corporations, thereby limiting the outflow of Ringgit from Malaysia? Our corporate ethics, cultural commitments, and personal morals are increasingly under the microscope in today’s political climate, and let me tell you, foreigners laugh at us.

 

The airport is so fittingly characteristic of the way Malaysia portrays itself to the rest of the world, and coincidentally, it’s what all of us here at MalaysianWings.com are so passionate about. So I want to give you our opinions, and see what you think. We are susceptible to changing our opinions should you show us another way of looking at things, until then here are our views on the current state of affairs at KLIA.

 

KLIA – Grand, beautiful, tropical, modern, iconic, underperforming, under-maintained, deteriorating and lacking the finer points of quality. This is what Malaysia presents the world of itself - a contradiction of imagery that perplexes the foreigners who visit our shores and us. We want so much, we hold high hopes, we do achieve, but only on the surface of things. One only has to scratch the surface to reveal a reality filled with politics and bureaucracy, a lack of commitment and most importantly a lack of managerial quality. We then cast aside our hopes and dreams, until we find others, bigger and shinier than those held before, and the cycle repeats. KLIA was envisaged as the gateway to Malaysia. It was destined to be the one-stop facility to commerce, trade and recreation. Unfortunately, KLIA has not lived up to its potential, as yet, and the situation merely worsens day by day.

 

Since opening, KLIA has been through some of the worst economic recessionary periods of regional history, the catastrophe of the SARS outbreak and most importantly has joined the world and felt the ripples of the rise in terrorism and the ensuing outbreak of wars in the Middle East. But it survived, and passenger numbers grew steadily over the years to its best performance last year with 21.5 million passengers. The airport appears to be performing well – on the surface! The performance of KLIA in recent times is due principally to the restructuring of MAS, and the birth of Air Asia – the regions most admired corporate debutant. However, the overall gains are marginal when one considers the overall potential of the airport. Growth has been inhibited due to a general lack of management and foresight.

 

Let me elaborate upon some of this further. KLIA is the epitome of Malaysia’s ‘no-maintenance’ culture. Looking around the airport, it is evident that what we have is neglected and left to deteriorate until it is functionless and needs to be replaced. Maintenance of the airport facilities is paramount to the success of the airport and thus profitability of companies such as MAHB, Kuala Lumpur International Airport Berhad (KLIAB) and Kuala Lumpur Airport Services (KLAS).

 

1. Total Airport Management System (TAMS)

a. This was designed to integrate the numerous airport systems to provide ‘unprecedented levels of service, safety and comfort to the travelling public… to help bring more tourists and business to Malaysia’. This is quoted from MAHB in the KLIA overview publication (1998). My point in bringing TAMS into question is: If such a system is installed and presumably operational, why then are certain airport systems inefficient and sometimes out of order. For instance the Baggage Handling System, which has broken down numerous times in the past causing delays and passenger and customer discomfort. TAMS is present to ensure the highest levels of efficiency and maintenance standards are adhered, yet it appears that such is not the case.

2. Airport Roadways and Car park:

a. The roadways that weave around the Main Terminal Building (MTB) complex are very poorly maintained, and visually unappealing. Road lines have nearly disappeared and the ornate lamp-poles that line the roads are in need of touch-up. The road barriers are also in need of repair, especially the locations where accidents have obviously occurred, yet the authorities have yet to repair the damage done. The car park B is leaking and this will ultimately lead to structural defects at the entrance to the car park, just at the bottom of the ramp before the chip-coin collection gate. The truncations of cables and piping that line the ceilings of the car park on the basement level are very badly maintained, with corrosion and leaks – if not maintained, the costs will just escalate. There is a car that has been idle in the car park since as long as I can remember and it’s still there today, with a clamp on the wheel and all. I don’t think the people who own the car are coming back, it’s covered with dust and all the tyres are flat. Shouldn’t it be removed?

3. Airline Offices:

a. The airline offices on the 4th floor of the MTB are another point of concern. The floor in the corridors is in terrible condition, the walls appear to be damp, ceiling panels missing and lights not working. Fire doors between the corridors are in poor condition and some may not even meet regulatory requirements. The airline offices themselves are maintained, but that is the responsibility of the airlines, not MAB. MAB should maintain these corridors for the comfort of passengers and airlines. I would imagine that such would only lead to appreciation to MAB by the various airlines that have offices on that level.

4. Taxi, Airport Limousine and ERL operators:

a. With regards to the Limos, I have taken the service on numerous occasions, and suffice to say, we cannot blame the drivers. Once again, the problem lies with the management! For those of you who are unaware, the airport Limo drivers pay around RM200 a day (more for premier cars) to hire the Limo from the company. They then have to pay for PETROL AND MAINTENANCE from their OWN pocket! The sad fact is these drivers work so hard, and for a measly profit IF ANY! They have to compete with the touts, the management, etc. etc. They have a union I'm sure, but a suppressed one, so striking is out of the question. Once again, it just takes the management company a little effort to look after this service so that Malaysians and foreigners alike will use and applaud the service! Who will help these drivers? It is they who suffer the most, followed by the consumer. It further compounds the image of Malaysia as just a 'wannabe' nation. It's time for change, and it begins with acknowledgement of the problem.

b. The Ekspres Rail Link (ERL) is an efficient and somewhat reliable service. However, the fare is expensive for local Malaysians. Passenger numbers appear to be improving since beginning the services in 2002, however, why has the ERL management chosen to take away the senior citizen discount and airline worker discount available on the Express line? These people can buy tickets on the Transit service instead, but at some inconvenience. A suggestion to improve operating costs of the ERL is to reduce the number of staff selling tickets and invest more heavily on the distribution of tickets via ticketing machines and collaboration with airlines when selling airline tickets. Such a feature is apparently available on MAS, although I have never encountered it. Encourage more airlines to allow check-in at KL City Air Terminal (CAT) in Sentral. At present only 3 airlines offer the facilities of CAT check-in being MAS, Cathay Pacific and Royal Brunei. Why not Singapore Airlines? Air Asia (the opening of a ticket office recently at Sentral may prompt negotiations for check-in facilities here)? Thai Airways and Garuda Indonesia seem like other likely candidates – they are amongst the more frequent visitors to KLIA. The ERL can provide a better platform for growth of KLIA than it presently does. Does MAHB and ERL management collaborate on their partnership enough to ensure the benefits are attained? – Quite obviously not.

 

5. Aerobridges and Apron facilities.

a. The Aerobridges are fantastic at KLIA! They are so visually appealing and have great features such as the individual Ground Power Units (GPU) located on the underside. They are actually quite envied by some of the other airports around the world. But sadly, some don’t work and haven’t for years. Why haven’t they been fixed? The aerobridges themselves are lacking finer maintenance. Sure they are in working order, some barely. There is rust, the carpet inside some of them needs to be replaced, light fixtures missing, and the ceiling panels are loose and dirty. A real shame is that the air conditioning in some of the bridges is not in working order. Malaysia is tropical, Europeans and Malaysians alike don’t want to walk out of the plane and immediately break into a sweat. The cameras that guide the ramp crew on some of the aerobridges don’t even work. The aerobridges have also been known to quit working sometimes, leaving passengers waiting in the aircraft for up to an hour. These incidents are surely avoidable.

b. The amenities and locker rooms available for ramp staff and apron crews such as the food court and rest area in the MTB (across from Air Asia engineering store-room) and near A6/A8 and B6/B8 are in very poor condition. MAS and MAB should ensure that these facilities are well-maintained to improve the morale of employees and should discipline those that abuse such facilities. The floor in the staff lounge near A6/A8 has recently had to be replaced.

c. The apron roadway lighting and corridor from the MTB to the Cargo complex running parallel with the aerotrain is very badly maintained. The retention walls look 100s of years old with paint peeling and the lights very badly maintained with some even missing or broken. These are all visible from the Aerotrain. Is this the image we want to present?

d. There are locations around the apron where curbs have been damaged by heavy vehicles. For months, all that remains is the rubble of the road and curb. Prevent this from happening. Install rubber strips in front of the curbs to prevent curb damage and more costly vehicle damage. Leaving the rubble as it is presents a hazard to airport staff working in the vicinity and should be addressed immediately.

6. Toilets.

a. Do I really need to say anything here? Let me provide you with an example of my own. On the night of 14th August)\ I was at the arrivals hall waiting for a relative to arrive. I needed to use the restroom facilities and upon entering was presented with the cleaner using the wash-hoses to literally hose down the entire cubicle - Including the toilet. He then proceeded to wash the walls with water and used a rubber broom to ‘sweep’ the water creating a mess all around the toilet cubicles, leaving the toilet saturated with water and unappealing for use by a patron of the airport. The sinks were filthy, some even with faucets missing. The bin was overflowing with rubbish onto the floor and the automatic hand dryers just weren’t working. This is the same story at most of the toilets around the airport, and I have been led to believe by female relatives and a member of parliament that the female toilets are in worse condition. I don’t blame the cleaning staff. I blame the airport authorities for inadequately training these staff. Let’s take Changi as an example. I was travelling back to Perth via Singapore on the 16th of August where I had a 3 hour transit. The toilets are immaculate. The staff seem to take some pride in their work! It’s very admirable! The efficiency and utter cleanliness made me wonder why we don’t achieve this or better at KLIA. This is after all our principle competitor.

7. Departure Gate lounges and Duty Free shopping:

a. The departure gate lounges are comfortable for now. But the chairs are being damaged by inconsiderate members of the public. But that’s no excuse for MAB to sit on their laurels and not do anything about it. Fix it before it gets worse and someone writes into the NST or The Star complaining about it. I can imagine how much these public complaints embarrass MAB officials – Don’t let it lead to that, aim to be one step ahead! The gate entertainment of TV3 is, whilst Malaysian, quite dull and boring. To further worsen things, the TV reception isn’t all that fantastic either. CNN? BBC? CNBC? ESPN? It is afterall an international airport. Perhaps local flat-screen manufacturers and Astro would like to help MAHB in this regard by offering the airport operaters a special deal that would allow MAHB to improve passenger amenities and double as direct marketing. Free internet service for passengers or at least wireless broadband facilities would allow businessmen to keep in touch with the office. That would encourage trade and development of KL as a business and trade destination.

b. Duty Free shopping. The new shops in the centre of the Satellite wings look nice. Expensive but nice. They are expensive because the rental is so high! They can’t maintain their shops because their margins are so low! MAB, help them out and give them a break! You’ll improve your non-aeronautical revenue if you help promote it and not constrain it as is the case at present. So many retail outlets at the MTB in the Viewing gallery are empty. I have an idea that I will discuss with members of this forum in another post, but how far that goes depends on us. MAB should aggressively be finding ways to improve that!

c. The radio station, Fly fm (95.8 in the Klang Valley), plays great songs for the youth! It actually is a really great station. But boost it with some advertising revenue? DHL? MAS? Air Asia? airlines serving KLIA? Retailers at KLIA? Why not MAB boost their retailers business by giving them discounted advertising costs on the radio. Why not MAB broadcast the radio within the airport? I didn’t hear it once inside the terminal! What about playing the music on the ramp for the ground crews – break the monotony, BE INNOVATIVE and improve employee morale and thus their performance.

8. Cargo Complex:

a. They want KLIA to be a regional cargo hub! MASKargo is growing and so too is Transmile. Create some order and efficiency around the cargo complex. It is often confusing and disorganised.

 

The standard of professionalism at KLIA is one of the biggest thorns in the side of promoting and developing this airport as a regional transportation hub. Staff can be discourteous, uninterested, and just plain unprofessional. Talking on handphones whilst checking in passengers, not acknowledging passengers and customers with a simple smile and hello – these are some of the flaws in customer service at KLIA. There are many more, but too many to delve into now. One must realise that the secret to success is ensuring the greatest resource of all – human resources – the people must be sufficiently trained and briefed on interpersonal skills and procedures. The various teams of management that supervise these people in their work must sit down and look at where they have failed so that tomorrow they can correct it. The vast majority of staff are courteous and helpful, but it’s the few that aren’t that constantly draw attention and bring down the quality of service available at KLIA.

 

Why have so many airlines like BA and Qantas left KUL? Because KLIA couldn’t provide the efficiency and standards it promised upon opening in 1998. BA and QF say they have low yields into Malaysia. Maybe so, but they didn’t always neglect KLIA as a potential hub – This is clear from the BA/QF lounge established at KLIA in 1998 and now closed. That investment must have reflected some confidence in KLIA. KLIA let them down, and must improve its reputation if they ever want to see these airlines again. In the meantime, passengers will have to keep booking on MAS to Europe and Australia (two very important markets for KLIA), and when those are full (which they always are), will rather fly SIA, and thus defeat the purpose of KLIA as a hub.

 

MAHB must strive for efficiency before the situation worsens at KLIA. Start addressing the quality of service and amenities available at the airport. You can’t expect a return when you haven’t made the investment in the right areas – that’s a fundamental principle. Boosting non-aeronautical revenue should be at the forefront of MAHB’s business strategy. They claim that it is, but we’ve yet to see any fruits from their ‘investments in customer comfort’. The decision making process is too long at MAHB. The same goes for MAS – what’s happened with the alliance and the orders for new much needed aircraft to bring relief to its bursting operations? To be profitable, you have to be transparent, and unfortunately MAS and MAHB are not sufficiently so. It is possible in Malaysia, and you don’t have to look far. Air Asia is a gleaming model of Malaysian innovation and corporate success. Who would have thought, that a loss-making airline be turned around and now challenge the biggest of guns in the South-East Asian region.

 

Air Asia is a company that has taken a foreign model and made it uniquely Malaysian. It prides itself on efficiency and quality standards and that’s why it is such an appreciated member of the Malaysian corporate and aviation community. If we remember back to earlier in this rambling of mine, KLIA has achieved record passenger numbers in recent times! The contribution of Air Asia is significant, and continues to be so. It is a company that adapts to its operating conditions given local restrictions and government protection of subsidised companies like MAS and MAHB. As a result it has soared, and now is only held back by the impending crude oil crisis.

 

KLIA is behind Changi and Hong Kong CLK, its two major competitors. Bangkok’s new airport opens next month. Will it fall behind that too? I hope not. It’s time for KLIA to rise to the challenge and meet its targets. It can do so with collaboration, NOT HELP, from the Malaysian Government, MAS, Tourism Malaysia and Air Asia.

 

Let’s not underestimate the role of forums like MalaysianWings.com. We are the ones who are passionate about this industry, and want to see it succeed. Some of us are making career decisions that will bring us into the Malaysian aviation scene. We want it to succeed and let’s face it; those of us here have the potential to make it so! The dedication of members and readers alike is so sincere and admirable. The success of KLIA can be a lesson to the rest of Malaysia. But in my eyes, the success of KLIA is the perfect example for Malaysia. In order to land at our place amongst the developed nations of this world, we must first take-off.

 

Sandeep S. Godrei,

c/o www.malaysianwings.com

 

[Sandeep G 1]

This is the edited copy and with some more added.

 

Please feel free to add more. I will be sending this as soon as I receive approval and additions from some of you here. Add your names to the bottom should you make any changes.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Keith, It is a beautiful airport, but it's underperforming and we want to be the best regionally, and that's slowly slipping away. Hence this forum and the release of the above statement to the media for immediate attention. We want to catch the eyes of all those involved and force changes to be made. Public opinion is paramount afterall, all th companies in question are publically listed companies - the shareholders are entitled to the frank opinions of members of this forum!

 

But thanks for the compliment! Next time you return, we hope it's even better than last time thanks to the dedication of MalaysianWings.com!

[Ken K. Kour 0]

great work Sandeep!!! you are a great addition to this forum... lets hope that the papers take this to heart, and that the government and MAB actually try and improve their services at KLIA..

[Keith T 2]

Now that you've mentioned it, I don't recall encountering many major airlines at KLIA from Europe, the US or Australia, meaning KLIA's network is heavily skewed towards regional destinations. So I guess it does need more connectivity for it to be regionally competitive as a hub. Its lucky that its home carrier, MH is a major hub carrier of high calibre.

 

Well I think I'm easily pleased since I've to endure places like LHR T4 during peak hours. So any increasing of standards at the lovely airports of Asia is just going to make me wanna tear my hair out more whenever I stand in immigration queues at LHR and MEL.

 

Great to see some form of activism alive in Malaysia! [no offense intended] Good luck!