Subang Airport upgrade to cost MAHB RM3.7bil
SUBANG: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is likely to spend RM3.7bil until 2030 for its 10-year Subang Airport Regeneration Plan (SARP), which includes a full-fledged new green city airport terminal and a 2.3 times increase in total lettable gross floor area (GFA) for its business aviation area.

Head of KLIA Aeropolis Sdn Bhd Randhill Singh said the SARP, which was approved by the government on Feb 6, would also involve the redevelopment of infrastructure as well as opening of new space for high-value maintenance, repair and overhaul businesses.

“A total of RM1.3bil allocation is for business aviation and aerospace segments and this figure is intact. Then there is the city airport component as well.

“When I mentioned it (the RM3.7bil figure) is within range, in my mind, this includes the city airport but this number has not been finalised because we are still doing the design work.

“A lot of the investment will go towards the city airport and road expansion as well as infrastructure,” he told StarBiz on the sidelines of a media briefing here yesterday.

Speaking at the familiarisation session of the SARP, Randhill said there would be a significant increase in total lettable GFA to 3.96 million sq ft by 2030 from 1.73 million sq ft currently with the reconfiguration of its existing airside layout and converting adjacent landside area into airside.

The new city airport terminal will be able to handle a total capacity of eight million passengers per annum (MPPA) by 2030 from 1.5 MPPA currently, according to Randhill.

In the interim, the capacity of the airport terminal will be increased to three MPPA this year.

Randhill said the city airport would complement the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang and broaden demand as it would cater to new passenger demand for time-sensitive, premium business and leisure travellers.

He pointed out that that it would also open up new business segments for regional jets and restricted narrow body jets, up to the size of A320/B737 or their equivalent.

Randhill said the airport terminal would be able to handle two narrow-body jets by the end of this month.

When asked if AirAsia will be operating from this terminal, Randhill said: “We have not determined which airlines (will be operating from the city terminal) because we have a limit to how much we can expand here.

“It is really about a policy that we want, down to which type of operators will come in with what kind of routes.

“So what the airlines are, at this point of time, we have not yet concluded. It will be a process that will take some time,” he added.

In terms of revenue contribution, Randhill said the proportion of revenue contribution between aeronautical and non-aeronautical for the SARP would be in line with what MAHB is receiving.

“Malaysia Airports as a whole, in terms of aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue streams, has always been between 50%:55% non-aeronautical versus aeronautical.

“This is important because whilst aeronautical revenue is regulated, we need to ensure that we grow our non-aeronautical revenue to help us reinvest.

“This range will be similar to the SARP. We will have passengers paying the passenger service charges and the airlines paying for landing and parking.

“When we talk about business aviation and aerospace, these are basically leases of built-up space.

“For the operators, the benefit is that they don’t have to have a lot of capital expenditure to build hangers. It is basically plug-and-play,” he explained.
Aviation,MAHB,SubangAirport,SARP,Investment,GreenCityAirport,PassengerCapacity
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is likely to spend RM3.7bil until 2030 for its 10-year Subang Airport Regeneration Plan (SARP), which includes a full-fledged new green city airport terminal and a 2.3 times increase in total lettable gross floor area (GFA) for its business aviation area.