M'sia's new budget terminal begins operations tomorrow

Sepang

MALAYSIA this week opens what it calls the world's largest airport built specifically for low-cost airlines, a project driven by budget travel's phenomenal growth but which debuts under the shadow of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The US$1.2 billion facility near the main Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) was originally targeted to open three years ago but has been hit by repeated delays, amid concerns over safety and subpar construction, even as costs have doubled.

But the new KLIA2 budget terminal will begin operations tomorrow with an initial 56 flights, increasing the load as airlines move full operations over from a nearby existing facility in coming days.