KLIA 2 Terminal in Progress

Referring to the following pictures, construction of KLIA 2 terminal is progressing as planned. KLIA 2 will be the world's first mega terminal for low-cost carriers. The terminal will be able to carry the expected high growth rate of passengers using low-cost carriers for the next 10 to 15 years.

I am really hopeful that there will be seamless connectivity between the main KLIA terminal and KLIA 2 terminal. As of the current low-cost terminal in Sepang, the connectivity with the main KLIA terminal is not so commendable. There are a lot of improvements need to be carried out to provide better connectivity between the terminals. Thus, hopefully, passengers transferring between KLIA 2 terminal and KLIA will be much better in the future so that more passengers will be able to visit both terminals at any one time.



Read HERE for previous entry about the launching of KLIA 2 terminal.

KLIA Aerotrain Back in Operation

After several months of inoperation, the aerotrains are running again transferring passengers back and forth between the two terminals at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.



The trains are in a good shape now after being refurbished recently. With the new depot being built, each of the train will be maintained periodically, which will prolong the train's life.



The newly built depot will house one of the train at any one time for maintenance.


Image of this train before being refurbished. The body paint was in a bad shape.

Ground Handlers at KLIA Airport

For every successful flight, there are numerous personnel making the flight possible. Pictures below, taken at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), show several ground services for every single flight at the airport.

Cargo Trays being pulled by airport tractor.



Lavatory servicing truck responsible to ensure clean and comfortable flight.



Cargo and luggage being driven to the respective designation at the airport.



Aircraft needed enough fuel to fly.



Looking for an aircraft to be towed.



Extra lifts needed at the airport.



Heading to somewhere that is too high for a ladder.



The taxiway needed to be extra clean at all time.

Launching of the KLIA2 Terminal

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launced the world's first mega terminal for low-cost carriers’s ground-breaking ceremony in Sepang yesterday. The new terminal will be known as KLIA2. The new low-cost terminal will meet the expected high growth rate of low-cost travel needs for the next 10 to 15 years. Currently, the low-cost carriers are using the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) also in Sepang. However, due to increase in demand, the LCCt terminal is getting more congested with passengers and also carriers. The new low-cost carrier terminal is expected to be able to handle 30 million passengers annually. The KLIA2 terminal is llocated only 2 km from the current Main Terminal building.

Both terminals, i.e. KLIA and KLIA2, will be interconnected to cater for easy inter-terminal transfer and better connectivity between the two. According to the news report, KLIA2 will have built-in walkways, bigger space per passenger and total separation between arrival and departing passengers for improved security. Express Rail Link (ERL) service is expected to be extended to the KLIA2 terminal. Read HERE for related story.

KLIA Aerotrain Service

KLIA Aerotrain

As been reported before, the aerotrain service at KLIA will be closed from Nov 1 this year to March 15 next year to allow for complete maintenance and modification works on the two trains currently operating the service. The two trains have been running non-stop shuttling passengers between the two terminals building at KLIA airport.

A new Depot and a new track under construction.

 

Recently there is a major construction work being carried out near the aerotrain track. Based on this report, the construction is to build a new depot and a new track for scheduled maintenance works of the trains. Additonal train will be parked at the Depot to be used as a replacement during repairs or maintenance of the other two trains.  I think this is the right move carried out by the MAB (Malaysian Airpirt Berhad) to put in place the scheduled and routine maintenance of the aerotrains in order to provide efficient and reliable service to passengers. Without such a move, the train will eventually break down and causes severe disruptions to passenger movements.

Airport Bus

MAB has ensured that there will be plenty of bus services available to transfer passengers within the construction and maintenance period of the two aerotrains. MAB also has carried out dry run of the bus services in order to provide efficient services to passengers. The headway between the buses are ensured to be within the reasonable time to ensure no congestion (due increase in number of passengers using the buses) during peak period. 

KLIA Aerotrains Due for Maintenance

KLIA Aerotrain links main and satellite buildings of the airport terminals. According to this news report, the aerotrain will be suspended for three months from November to facilitate maintenance works. The aerotrain units require full servicing and maintenance as they have been operating for 12 years.

During that period, buses would be used to transport passengers between the main terminal and satellite building.

I am just wondering why the maintenance and servicing of the train units were not carried out in stages or periodically in order to avoid all of the aerotrain units to be suspended at the same time. May be there are several reasons behind the decision to suspend all of the units at once for certain period of time. Or may be they already carry out periodic maintenance all this while and now is the time for major servicing and major maintenance. Hope all of the aerotrain will be in perfect working order after the scheduled maintenance.

The proposed maintenance activities will ensure that there will less chance for the train services to be distrupted at any time without proper notice and causing more incovenience to users. As of now, I have not heard any compaints regarding the aerotrain services. The aerotrains have carried out its intended purposes reliably and efficiently. Kudos to all parties involved in choosing the type of trains and for maintaing the trains in good working conditions.

KLIA'S First

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Originally uploaded by wanhashim

Wondering why I shot this picture?

This picture was taken at the KLIA Airport. If you notice the picture is about men and ladies room.

It has been a standard sign to have a picture of men or lady to indicate the respective room.

What I found only in KLIA is a unique colour stripe at the entrance of the respective room. For ladies room, the colour is pink, whereas for men's room, the colour is grey.

If you ever encountered this unique colouring system somewhere else please let me know and chip in your comment below. Otherwise this is what I called KLIA's first since the colouring system is only available at KLIA, so far.

Just wondering why the room need to be differentiated using the unique colouring system as if the standard sign of men and lady is not enough. If you have any ideas on the reason for the colouring system please writes in the comment below.

Otherwise the only reason why the need to have the colouring system that I can think of now is that if anybody due to the urgency beyond his or her control just don't have time to look for the right sign, at least he or she will have time to notice the differences in the colour stripe at the entrance (only if they are not colour blind) so that they will not end up in the wrong room at the wrong time.

KLIA Express Rail Link

The most reliable and fastest way to travel from KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) to Kuala Lumpur City Center. It takes only 28 minutes of travel time. Only once before several years ago did I experienced some delay where the train just did not move along its track due to some mulfunction. Other than that I enjoyed very much riding the train.