By Stephanie Jacob
A prominently placed poster at klia2 which claims that the new low cost carrier terminal (LCCT) was some 23% cheaper to build per square metre is raising eyebrows. The poster states that the construction cost was RM1.1 billion and carries Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) logo. The company is the owner and operator of the terminal.
Abdul Aziz Kaprawi
Many parties including the transport ministry have stated that the cost in fact is in the RM4 billion region. This figure was reiterated at a press conference on May 2 following the arrival of the first flight at klia2, when the deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said that the cost of the new terminal “was within the budget (of) RM4 billion.”
In response to Kinibiz’s request for clarification, MAHB senior general manager of operations Azmi Murad said that “the RM1.1 billion is the cost of the klia2 terminal building.”
His comment appears to imply that the figure given on the poster purely covers the terminal building costs, and not other aspects of the entire klia2 complex such as the runway, control tower and the attached gateway@klia2 mall.
Nonetheless it is questionable if the public will be able to discern the difference based on the contents of the poster itself, and in particular its title ‘klia2 is cheaper to build than LCCT’.
The poster in question said that klia2 was built for RM1.1 billion with a terminal size of 257,000 square meters (SQM), equalling RM4,280 per SQM. Meanwhile it said the old LCCT terminal was built at a cost of RM334 million with a terminal size of 60,000 SQM – translating into a cost of RM5,567 per SQM.
Based on this calculations MAHB claimed that the new terminal was 23% cheaper to build per SQM. However if the cost is taken at the actual RM4 billion, the cost per SQM for klia2 in fact becomes RM15,564 which is close to three times the cost per SQM of the old LCCT.
Although technically a terminal, klia2 is sometimes seen to be a standalone airport as it has its own runway and control tower unlike the old LCCT.
klia2 is the largest purpose-built low-cost terminal in the world and was initially scheduled for completion in late 2011 at a cost of RM1.7 billion. However the airport has faced numerous delays, with the various stakeholders pointing the finger of blame at each other as to who should be held responsible. Kinibiz has published an in-depth series of articles on the issue which can be read here.
In mid 2013, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein assured the public that the terminal would open its doors on May 2, 2014. This deadline was finally kept, with the first incoming flight touching down just after midnight on the promised date.
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