Airport city planned near KLIA

By BLOOMBERG
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd plans to convert some oil-palm plantations surrounding Kuala Lumpur’s main air terminal into attractions such as theme parks, concert halls and golf courses to lure businesses and visitors.
A factory outlet venture with Mitsui Fudosan Co, Japan’s biggest developer, would open in the area next year, and new towns had sprung up near the airport that would help the zone dubbed KLIA (KL International Airport) Aeropolis grow, chief financial officer Faizal Mansor said in an interview.
MAHB has about 9,000ha in Sepang, where the international airport and a Formula One track are located.
“I don’t think any other airport in the world has got the kind of land bank that we have,” Faizal said. As the area gets more developed, “the airport then slowly becomes less and less a destination for passengers to take a flight, more and more a destination by itself.”
Future developments for KLIA Aeropolis include more than 121.4ha set aside for a cargo and logistics park, more than 202ha for a theme park and land exceeding 40.4ha for offices, according to presentation slides from the company.
MAHB planned to develop the old budget terminal site into a logistics hub for cargo facilities once main tenant AirAsia relocated its headquarters, Faizal said.
This would help Malaysia catch up with centres in Singapore and Bangkok and compete for a larger share of the air cargo market, Khair Mirza, senior general manager of planning, said in the same interview.
AirAsia would start building its headquarters at the new budget terminal next month with completion targetted for the end of 2015, Bernama reported on June 4, citing chief executive officer Aireen Omar.
KLIA might overtake Singapore’s Changi Airport in passenger traffic in two to three years at current growth rates, Faizal said.
KLIA handled about 47.5 million travellers last year while Changi Airport had 53.7 million passengers. Passenger traffic was projected to grow 10% this year in Kuala Lumpur, he said.