IPOH, Feb 8 — Transport Minister Anthony Loke today said that there is no plans to extend the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport (LTSAS) at the moment as the current upgrading plan is to optimise existing space.
Loke said that there is no conclusive plan at the moment to develop the airport into a bigger facility.
“What Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) is doing right now is to optimise and upgrade the existing space.
“The cost for the optimising and upgrading work is about RM8 million which will be fully bear by MAHB,” he told reporters during a press conference after launching the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) open payment system at the Ipoh Railway Station here.
Loke also said that he had met with MAHB this morning and discussed the upgrading plans, which will be executed immediately within this year.
“This will help increase the movement of the passengers as well increase the immigration counters and check-in counters so that the airport can be more utilised in terms of space and hopefully can provide a better experience for passengers,” he added.
On new flights to Ipoh, Loke said the Ministry is still working on bringing more flights.
“Ipoh has a lot of potential. Right now, Singapore Scoot Airline flies at least three times a day to Ipoh and I was told that over the last six months, every flight that coming to Ipoh has been 90 per cent full and it shows that the demand for Singapore to Ipoh is high.
“Of course, we are looking at other airlines as well such as Air Asia flight from Johor Baru to Ipoh. And we hope that Air Asia can start more flights from other places to Ipoh. If they can connect Bangkok to Ipoh, it will be good for tourism in Ipoh,” he said.