Glass barriers at KLIA - a match for touts

THE recently completed glass barricades at the international arrival hall at KL International Airport have effectively slashed touting by half, according to KLIA general manager Daud Hosnan.

ANTI-TOUT: Glass barricade in KLIA stops touts from approaching arriving passengers

And this has been achieved even before the approved counters for taxis, limousines, travel agencies and hotels have been effectively relocated inside the arrival hall — another step in the plan initiated by Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAB), besides erecting the glass barricades.

“We don’t have any figure on how much touting activities have dropped, but after the glass barriers had been put in place, the touting activities in the terminal have dropped significantly,” Daud told Malay Mail.

“I would hazard a guess that touting activities have gone down by 50 per cent,” he said, adding that the relocation of the counters — 18 in total — is expected to be done after Hari Raya.

“Right now, enforcement officers from various agencies — airport security, police and the Road Transport Department — are deployed all round the terminal to keep a close lookout for touts. Once the relocation is completed, I think we will see even less touting at KLIA,” added Daud.

The glass barricades, measuring 2.5m high, effectively stop touts from approaching arriving passengers. The area within the barricades is also heavily guarded by security and police officers, making life more difficult for touts.

Although passengers still remain exposed to potential touts after passing the barricades, the relocation of the counters is expected to help solve this problem.

The idea is to ensure passengers are provided with transport options before leaving the arrival hall, hence closing them to any offers by approaching touts. The plan was announced in May by MAB to solve its long-time tout woes.

On May 14, Malay Mail highlighted how a travel company, Fleet Holidays Sdn Bhd, had its customers conned by touts pretending to be its agents.

The customers — a couple — were approached by a tout upon arriving at KLIA, and were told by the tout that he was a replacement driver.

After taking the couple to their hotel in the city centre, the “replacement driver” demanded a hefty RM690 from them for the transport, telling them they could get the amount reimbursed by the travel agent.

Source : MalayMail
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