Matta welcomes shifting of AirAsia’s operations to Terminal 1

The shifting of AirAsia’s operations to Terminal 1 next month will certainly be welcomed by passengers, said Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) vice president (inbound) Datuk KL Tan. He said the Terminal 2, which the low-budget-carrier is operating now, has poor ventilation, lack of check-in counters, immigration and goods and services tax refund counters, poor toilet facilities, among others.

The terminal at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) has also exceeded its passenger capacity of two million passengers per annum (ppa), as last year its actual passenger volume was 3.6 million ppa. “This has been a long tussle for some years and we are glad AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has realised we need to be law-abiding citizens. “Matta Malaysia wishes to thank Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for giving the final directive to AirAsia to move to Terminal 1,” he said in a statement.

The Prime Minister, who officiated the RM1.7 billion Terminal 1 on Sept 16, had delivered an ultimatum to AirAsia to move its operations from Terminal 2, stating the airline had exceeded its timeframe. AirAsia has been involved in disagreements with Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd since the airline was asked to move its operations back in 2011, with the last deadline being on Aug 1 this year.