Sabah needs new airport, not new terminal, says aviation expert

KOTA KINABALU: A new terminal at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is just a short-term solution and not the answer needed for the second busiest airport in Malaysia, says a senior aviation consultant.

Mohd Faizal Malik said the offer from the Federal Government to construct a new terminal, which is aimed at catering to KKIA’s growing demand, would not meet the airport’s future needs.

A new terminal at KKIA did not address its current limitations, he said, stressing that it still remained a single-runway airport.

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“The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has three runways, and with KKIA being the second busiest airport in the country, at the very least Sabah needs an airport that has dual runways to cater for growth,” he said in a statement on Thursday (Dec 28).

During an event in Sabah’s interior Tenom district on Dec 7, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Federal Government was prepared to consider putting up another terminal at KKIA in view of the booming Sabah tourism industry.

He said tourist arrivals were expected to pick up as Sabah’s natural beauty and the friendliness of its people attract visitors.

Tuaran, about 40km north of here, and the south-west Kimanis area, some 70km from the state capital, were among the two locations previously proposed by politicians and businessmen for the new KKIA.

Mohd Faizal, who is also Nexgen CMILT (Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport) Sabah chairman, said there was not much room for expansion at KKIA’s current site due to its proximity to the coastline and surrounding densely populated areas.

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Furthermore, he said, any attempt at land reclamation would adversely affect the beauty of Tanjung Aru, which was home to a beachside famous for its sunset; as well as jeopardise any future development in the area and its surroundings.

He added that due to KKIA’s proximity to densely populated areas like Putatan and Tanjung Aru, noise and air pollution would become issues.

“The imminent saturation of the current facility (KKIA) underscores the urgency of the proposed relocation to Tuaran or Kimanis.

“Both locations offer ample space and resources to accommodate the escalating number of passengers and sustain the trajectory of Sabah’s aviation sector,” said Mohd Faizal.

He said the proposed relocation, necessitated by the current airport nearing its maximum capacity of 10 million passengers a year and already handling approximately nine million passengers annually, aimed to address the growing demands of modern aviation.

With the rapid development of East Kalimantan as the new capital of Indonesia, he said, it was even more essential for Sabah to develop its competitive advantages.

“As such investing and modernising its facilities will not only attract investors but also improve Sabah’s air connectivity, leverage its advantage and complement the development in Kalimantan, as well as in the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) region,” he said.

Mohd Faizal said, however, any proposed relocation must undergo thorough assessments, feasibility studies and community consultation to align with regulatory requirements and the best interests of all stakeholders.