The Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), which celebrates its first anniversary Friday, received its 3.7 millionth domestic passenger and 6.2 millionth passenger, since its opening.
"This year, we hope to see an increase in passenger movements of up to 7.4 million," said chairman of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), Tan Sri Dr Aris Othman, at a press conference held at the LCCT here today.
Last year, he said, the LCCT recorded passenger movements of 4.7 million and the number was expected to increase due to the rapid growth of low-fare travel worldwide.
"This year, we are anticipating a natural increase in passenger throughput in the coming months due to the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and the aggressive promotion by the airlines," he said.
Dr Aris said apart from AirAsia, the other airlines using the terminal were Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia and Cebu Pacific.
He said MAHB planned to expand the LCCT to accommodate Airasia X long-haul operations.
"The expansion is to accommodate Airasia X's use of bigger aircraft for its operations. We also plan to increase the number of aircraft parking bays," he said.
After the upgrade, Dr Aris said, the terminal would have the capacity to accommodate 15 million passengers annually from 10 million currently.
He said the airport operator has ample time to upgrade the terminal because Airasia X has postponed its operations until September.
He, however, declined to disclose the expansion cost.
Built on a fast-track basis within nine months, the construction of the terminal began in June 2005, fully funded by the government.
It started operations on March 23, 2006.
MAHB manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia, five international, 16 domestic and 18 short take-off and landing ports.
Source : Bernama
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