KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plans at present to build a new airport to replace Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), says transport minister Loke Siew Fook
Loke said his ministry is focused on ensuring optimum use of KKIA, which he said was strategically located and close to the city centre.
“The construction of a new airport involves, firstly, a significant amount of funding and, secondly, the issue of suitability.
“What has been proposed so far regarding the construction of a new airport in Sabah is that it would be located quite a distance from Kota Kinabalu, I believe nearly 40km to 50km away,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to Ronald Kiandee (PN-Beluran), who asked if the government had plans to replace KKIA with a new airport.
In June 2022, Qhazanah Sabah Bhd (QSB), the strategic investment arm of the state government, entered into a memorandum of understanding with Berjaya Land Bhd to explore the possibility of moving KKIA to Kimanis, 60km south of Kota Kinabalu.
However, in January, Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor said there was no urgent need to relocate KKIA from the state’s capital as the current airport could continue operations for another seven to 10 years.
Loke previously said Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd had long-term plans to expand KKIA to accommodate the expected increase in passengers from nine to 15.4 million annually.
However, this would involve acquiring land adjacent to KKIA.
Separately, Loke said the ministry was aware of cases of online travel agents raising flight ticket prices on their own. He said he would order the Malaysian Aviation Commission to study the issue in more detail.
He agreed that these travel agents should be regulated but said the issue was rather complex, with some of them based overseas. - FMT
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