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Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR.
MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE SUNWAY LAGOON, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 18/07/99
Tajuk/Title : THE 9TH ACI-PACIFIC REGIONAL
ASSEMBLY AND CONFERENCE
I am honoured to be invited to this reception and
to welcome you to Malaysia, for the 9th Airport Council
International Pacific Regional Assembly and Conference.
It is indeed a pleasure to see a gathering of
specialists at this conference where you will be able
to share views and knowledge on airports and their
future outlook. I note that you have chosen the 'Next
Generation Airports' as the theme of this conference.
It is most appropriate considering the challenges of
the new millennium.
2. Malaysia is relatively young in the provision of
air transport and aviation services. Since Civil
Aviation started in this country in the early forties,
we have grown faster than we expected. Today, we have a
network of five international airports, 15 domestic
airports and 18 other small airports. Since the late
eighties, in response to our rapid traffic growth, we
had embarked on a programme of airports infrastructure
development, planned to cater for the accelerated pace
of economic growth. Indeed, much forward planning is
essential as we do not want to be caught again with an
airport that is inadequate and yet is unable to expand.
Subang International Airport was opened in 1964 with a
projected capacity of 400,000 passengers per annum but
at the time when we moved to the new KL International
Airport (KLIA) last year, Subang was trying to handle
17 million passengers.
3. As you are aware finding land and a good location
for an airport is no easy matter. While everyone wants
a convenient airport, no one wants it anywhere near
where he lives. Landowners often refuse to surrender
land for an airport even when offered hefty
compensation. In planning for an airport, especially
one that is to serve the capital and is most likely to
expand rapidly, it is important that the long-term
needs be given serious consideration. One just cannot
move airports or even build secondary airport every few
years simply because it is not possible to find
suitable sites. If one has to build a new airport it
must be planned to cater for expansion over the next
hundred years if not more.
4. And so when we were planning for a new airport to
replace Subang International Airport, we had to find a
site that is big enough for expansion to cater for high
traffic growth, yet located at a reasonable distance
from the city. The new airport at Sepang now has two
runways and can cater for 25 million passengers. It
has room for as many as five runways and cater for 125
million passengers.
5. Perhaps this need will never arise even in a
hundred years. But the land will never be wasted.
There are a thousand profitable uses for land even if
the economy does not grow much. At the present rate of
population growth Malaysia will have a population of
more than 70 million people in another 100 years. That
alone would mean a requirement for a bigger airport.
6. KLIA has just completed its first year of
operations last month. I am told that the airport has
been ranked third in the world by IATA for business
passenger satisfaction. The developer of the airport,
KLIA Berhad, has also been nominated for excellence in
engineering work. These are remarkable achievements by
a developing country in such a short space of time. I
would like to congratulate KLIA for receiving these
recognitions, which I think it rightly deserves.
7. What has not been generally noticed is the move in
24 hours of the operations from the old Airport in
Subang to KLIA without interrupting flights.
Considering the number of systems and the hardware,
the staff and all else, this is quite a feat.
Admittedly there were hitches during the first two
weeks. But these were overcome much sooner than is
usual.
8. The success of the development of KLIA goes beyond
the physical construction of the airport. The
implementation of a deliberate transfer of technology
programme has enabled local companies to keep abreast
with the major players in the airport industry.
9. Companies such as KLIA Berhad, the developer of
the airport, Sapura and XY-Base, the IT solution
providers, and Malaysia Airports Sdn. Bhd., the airport
operator, have started to offer their skills and
experience in developing and managing airports beyond
our shores. I am glad to note that the relationship
and trust developed during the hectic days of
construction have continued. The sponsorship of this
conference, today and for the next three days, by both
local and international organisations is indeed a
reflection of ongoing collaboration and coexistence.
10. Significant changes are now taking place in
various disciplines as we move into the next
millennium. While technology and innovative systems
would continue to dictate efficiency, the human factor
still remains relevant and crucial to the success or
otherwise of these systems. At the end of the day what
determines success is the efficient delivery of the
services by the operators to the various airport users.
They all have their specific needs. The tourists, the
business traveller, the airfreight companies, the
charter people and the travel agents, the shop and
restaurant operators, indeed the Government agencies,
all these have differing needs and all must be catered
for efficiently, and expeditiously. It is in achieving
this that the measure of an airport's efficiency is
determined.
11. Airports are anything but natural creations. But
not being natural does not mean that they cannot be
made compatible with nature. KLIA for example, was
built with this in mind. Dr Kisho Kurukawa, the
designer of KLIA, who is with us tonight, as well as
all those local and foreign parties involved in its
construction deserve to be given credit for their
efforts. They worked tirelessly within the limited
timeframe given to them to build KLIA. The 'Airport in
the Forest and Forest in the Airport' concept which was
applied in KLIA design and construction was intended to
bring concrete and steel as close to nature as
possible. I believe they have largely succeeded in
doing this.
12. Now, It is up to you as airport specialists to
expand the use of airport facilities beyond the
immediate travellers. I can foresee the expanded role
of airports of the future. Airports already play a
significant role in tourism by being gateways to
tourists and projecting a nation's first impression to
visitors. Airports can also become leisure
destinations in themselves. Having been built as a
major transport infrastructure, an airport could be
easily transformed from a mere transit point to a
centre for all kinds of businesses and activities
related to air transport needs.
13. The Sepang Gateway Recreation Park with facilities
such as F-1 Motor Sports Circuit, Go-Kart Circuit, Golf
Course, Wetland recreational facilities reflect a
beginning towards this expanded role.
14. Airports have become more transnational and
global. We are in fact managing transnational
communities -- people from all over the world with
varied and different requirements and tastes. The
airport is not simply a space for landing, boarding and
taking off any longer. Seamless travel is now becoming
more of a reality. Superior customer service, comfort
and ambience used to be the domain of hotels and
airlines. More and more airports now are being
transformed and uplifted to provide equally high levels
of service and comfort. Probably, the time has come
for airports to adopt the hotel star classification;
five star, four star, three star and so on. Focus on
service quality level improvement should be the rule
of the game for airports of the future. Over and above
that, airports are now required to play a more enhanced
role in trade, industry, social and cultural promotion
and exchanges. In many instances, airports have become
an integral part of major urban and sub-urban centres.
Airports must perform all these diverse functions while
maintaining their primary responsibility to receive and
despatch aircrafts efficiently and safely. When we
build an airport we are really building a city with
sophisticated urban functions all under figuratively
speaking one big roof. Many studies and papers have
been presented by ACI and bodies such as Air Transport
Action Group (ATAG) on increasing the awareness of the
community as to the benefits that an airport brings,
both socially and economically, to the community and
the nation. ACI deserves credit for playing a role in
this.
15. Figures quoted in these studies on employment,
investment opportunities and business growth, and the
multiplier effect on the economy as a whole, are indeed
helpful to change the negative perceptions people have
on airport expenditure. Subang, the old international
airport, was said to be a white elephant when it was
built. What happened was that the Subang airport helped
spur massive development of its neighbourhood. KLIA's
construction was also deemed an extravagance by some
parties. I am confident it will rapidly prove that
projects such as KLIA are indeed necessary for a
country's long term growth and prosperity. Impact
studies in areas related to construction of airports
should be continued by organisations such as ACI, as
the voice of airports of the world.
16. The third quarter of 1997 saw the economies of the
region suddenly plunging into recession and turmoil.
This affected disposable income, and as a consequence
lesser business and leisure travel by air. Though
airports are generally more resilient to economic
downturns than airlines, this time around however,
airports in this region have been affected, after more
than 10 years of positive growth. Prolonged downturns
cannot but have adverse effect on airports. As with
many other airports in this region, Malaysian airports
too experienced declines in traffic last year, though
we seem to be improving this year. Nevertheless, we
need to be ready for the next round, should there be
one.
17. ACI can help to guide airports play a more direct
role in determining their destiny. Previously airlines
took the lead in marketing and in fact determining the
airports future. I am pleased to note that airports
are already more directly involved in air services
negotiations, and determining aircraft schedule and
slot times, thus enabling them to market directly their
facilities and services. These are positive
developments and indicate that airports have come of
age without losing their concerns for safety and
efficient operations of aircrafts.
18. Furthermore, airports could cooperate in many
areas to enhance their own performance and development.
Organisations, such as ACI, offer excellent platform
for continuous collaboration and cooperative efforts
among member airports.
19. You have laid out a wide range of interesting
topics for discussion at this conference. I hope this
congregation will further accelerate the sharing of
expertise and knowledge among airport operators in the
Pacific Region. I urge delegates to participate
actively in this ACI Assembly and Conference aimed at
viewing airports in a new perspective, i.e. as
destinations in themselves. I also hope that
Malaysia's own new generation airport, the KL
International Airport, will offer a learning experience
to airport developers and operators certain knowledge
on airport construction and operations.
20. Finally, may I thank Malaysia Airports Sdn. Bhd.
for bringing this conference to Malaysia. And with
that, I hereby declare this 9th ACI-Pacific Regional
Assembly and Conference open.
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