The cabinet had on Feb 2 approved Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd’s (MAHB) proposal to rejuvenate the Subang Airport, dubbed the Subang Airport Regeneration Plan (SARP).
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the plan will see the return of commercial passenger flights utilising jet planes up to the size of A320/B737, which has been discontinued since 2002.
Such flights were previously diverted to KLIA and KLIA2, while airlines were only allowed to utilise Subang Airport for turboprop planes for commercial passenger flights.
“We are aiming at the premium and business passenger market segment, taking full advantage of the strategic location of the Subang Airport at the heart of Greater Kuala Lumpur.
“Scheduled commercial flights using propeller and turboprop aircraft will be maintained as market demand for such services at the Subang Airport is projected to be healthy and positive,” Loke (above) said during a press conference at the airport today.
Loke labelled this regeneration a “game changer” for the Subang Airport but stressed that it would not replace the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang.
He assured that the Subang Airport was instead meant to complement KLIA.
“It is a major policy decision to allow narrow-body jets to operate from the Subang Airport. Without this policy decision, the entire regeneration plan cannot work,” he said.
The minister said that plans to use Subang Airport as a secondary or city airport could only be considered once KLIA reached more than 60 million passengers per annum, which was achieved in 2019.
He added that Subang Airport can now focus on becoming an international city airport with a maximum capacity of eight million passengers annually.
The components involved in this regeneration, he said, involve the aerospace industry centre, the maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) centre, research and development, general and business operations, urban air mobility, as well as regional commercial flight operations.
Plan to be submitted by end-March
Now that the proposal has passed the policy stage, Loke said MAHB will have to draw up a business plan for government approval.
“The actual business plan will be finalised by MAHB and submitted to the Transport Ministry to be tabled before the cabinet before any further announcement can be made,” Loke said when asked about the estimated cost of the project.
He added that MAHB was directed to submit the proposed business plan by the end of the quarter.
The Subang airport is one of 39 airports managed by Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) which is mostly government-owned.
MAHB’s concession for the Subang Airport expires in 2069.
In June 2021, MAHB submitted an RM1.3 billion proposal for a regeneration plan for the airport to the government.
This proposal is premised on three focus areas, namely aerospace ecosystem, business aviation, and urban community airport.
Asked how their previous proposal ties in with the current proposal, MAHB managing director Iskandar Mizal Mahmood said that it would take engagements with stakeholders “in a very transparent manner”.
“We will engage (the business proposal) on the existing plan. Any fine tuning will be undertaken at the particular stage,” he said today.
This triggered a tussle with Subang Skypark Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of construction firm WCT Holdings Bhd, which submitted a proposal to Putrajaya for the company to take over the Subang Airport until 2092.
WCT owns 60 percent equity in Subang Skypark Sdn Bhd - the operator of the Skypark Terminal (formerly Terminal 3) of the Subang Airport, since 2018.
Subang Skypark reportedly planned to shift Subang airport’s focus to “premium business travellers, capturing a different market from KLIA passengers”.
WCT wanted to give regional jet operators access to Subang airport again, albeit with jets with a smaller capacity of fewer than 140 seats.
It also wanted to add new facilities - a convention hall, pet hotel, hospital, hanger and maintenance, among others - to Subang airport.
However, former transport minister Wee Ka Siong in Jan 2022 said that the Subang airport remained under the management and operational oversight of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).
Meanwhile, Loke said the government would not interfere with any arrangement between MAHB and WTC.
“That is a commercial decision, as far as this decision (to regenerate the airport)is concerned, it is a policy decision,” he said. - Mkini
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