Resolve Penang Airport's expansion funding issues fast, says CM

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow (photo, above) wants the federal authorities and Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to resolve funding issues for the Penang International Airport (PIA) expansion project to commence immediately.

Chow said the PIA is already "bursting beyond its capacity", so any expansion for a capacity of 12 million passengers is most welcomed.

"Last week, I raised the issue of private funding for the airport expansion and operations, as companies involved would be expecting some returns for their investment," Chow said at a press conference in George Town today.

"The concession for the project would most likely be 10 to 12 years, depending on the terms and conditions," he added, after attending the Art for Peace Forum by the Global Chinese Art and Society at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel here.

"I raised the issue as I felt the federal government might want to restructure the concession and whether this would delay the expansion plans further," Chow said.

In May, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the expansion plan would cost more than RM1 billion, with the expectation of increasing the airport capacity from nine to 20 million passengers.

Yesterday, Bernama reported that MAHB was ready to proceed with the PIA expansion plan after receiving the Finance Ministry’s approval.

The national news agency quoted group CEO Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin as saying that MAHB has been working on the expansion project for the past two years.

Raja Azmi said MAHB had engaged consultants to draw up detailed construction plans after consultations with the Transport Ministry, Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and the Penang government.

MAHB is planning to submit the plans to the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) for approval by the end of July after the project has received the necessary clearances from Mavcom, the Transport Ministry and the Department of Director-General of Lands and Mines as the landowner, Bernama reported.

Once MBPP approves the plan, the airport expansion project will commence in the first quarter of next year.

MAHB issued the statement after Chow said "certain issues have hampered the progress of PIA’s expansion."

"It is for the federal government and MAHB to resolve whatever funding issues they have," Chow said.

"For Penang, we are merely concerned about early commencement and completion of the expansion project as the airport is currently operating beyond its design capacity. Every year, the situation gets worse," he added.

MAHB is currently discussing funding options with various parties and had submitted an application to fully fund the project under the proposed Mavcom Regulated Asset Base framework, pending federal approval.

PIA passenger capacity has reached 9,100,888 from January 2018 to February 2019, with 3,607,308 international passengers for 2018 and 597,300 in the first two months of 2019.

As for domestic passengers, the number of visitors for 2018 were 4,183,115 and 713,165 for January and February 2019. - Mkini