AirAsia Flight Operations To Remain At Low-Cost Carrier Terminal

Sepang, Malaysia 1 April 2014 - Referring to the recent report on low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) closure on 9th May 2014  Air Asia would like to clarify that all Air Asia and Air Asia X operations will still be based at the current LCC Terminal even after 9th May due to a number of unresolved pressing issues that still need to be addressed.

Although Air Asia is prepared to move to klia2, the transfer will only be carried out after all the issues are addressed.

The recent Ikram Premier Consultings’ (Ikram) findings on the readiness of klia2 has revealed that there are depressions on the taxiway / apron and runway which will necessitate periodic remedial measures to be undertaken on relevant areas. This will prove to be operationally disruptive to a hub airline such as AirAsia Group which has about 400 aircraft movements in a day and at least 70 aircraft in its fleet in LCCT. Last year alone the Group carried 22 million passengers via LCCT.

We believe it is crucial to ensure that whole remedial steps are undertaken prior to a transfer, which will mitigate risks relating to any potential aviation incidents.

AirAsia also believes that the Operational Readiness & Airport Transfer (ORAT) period for a transfer to support the size of AirAsia’s operations would substantially be more than the 2 months prescribed by MAHB, which in our opinion is unrealistic and overly-optimistic. Even the ORAT for the transfer from KLIA Main Terminal to LCCT in 2006 took longer than 2 months when AirAsia’s operations were significantly smaller.

Further to that, there are other key commercial, operational and contractual open items which are still undergoing discussions between AirAsia and MAHB which need to be resolved prior the transfer to klia2.

Aireen Omar, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Berhad said, “The move to KLIA2 is imminent, however it will only be carried out after all issues are addressed. We appeal to the Prime Minister for the benefit of the 12,000 AirAsia Allstars – for a fully functional airport where we can continue to work hard to make flying affordable for over 20 million Malaysians who have benefited from the low cost carrier business model.”

We have addressed the above issues to MAHB and relevant authorities. AirAsia will be making an official announcement and inform all of its guests once we are ready to proceed with the move to klia2.