Malaysia: MAHB plans to manage more airports in Asia

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) plans to operate and manage one or two more airports in Asia by the end of the year in light of the recovery in the aviation industry, reported the StarBiz.

“The industry has been recovering since late last year and we expect it to strengthen this year. The recovery is apparent in our total passenger movement last year that saw 8.2 percent increase over the previous year.

“And we will make an announcement later on which specific airports in the region we are interested to manage,” managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad told reporters after a media briefing on Check-In Asia, a high-profile aviation forum which MAHB would host in Kuala Lumpur this year.

MAHB has forecast a conservative estimate of a 4 percent to 5 percent increase in passenger traffic at its airports this year.

Currently, MAHB’s overseas operations include India’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad and Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi as well as Istanbul Sabiha Gocken International Airport in Turkey.

MAHB manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia.

In relation to the upcoming forum and the efficiency of passengers’ check-in procedures, Bashir said MAHB was ready to extend the bar-coded boarding pass (BCBP) facilities to all its airports as all airlines were required by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to implement BCBP by year-end.

BCBP enables and facilitates the deployment and automation of additional value-added services around the airport such as lounge access, fast-track security, self boarding and baggage handling.

The industry targets to achieve 100 percent BCBP capability by the end of 2010. “We are ready to implement the BCBP capability to all our airports. The investment could be small, but it would make a lot of difference to the passengers,” he said.

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