A subject on the agenda of the recent Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) conference in Pattaya was the declaration: "The low-cost airline revolution is here to stay". 

Azmi Murad, general manager of Malaysia Airports Holdings, which manages Kuala Lumpur International Airport, agrees wholeheartedly with the sentiment.

The company recently opened a terminal at KL International Airport dedicated solely to low-cost carriers.

The 35,290-square-metre terminal, which cost 108 million ringgit (Bt1.14 billion), was opened in March, nine months ahead of schedule.

Changi Airport in Singapore also opened a terminal for low-cost carriers in the same month, but according to Murad it is smaller than the Malaysian one.

"Low-cost carriers represent the biggest revolution in the airline industry, and their potential is huge in the Asian region," Murad said on the sidelines of the Pata conference.

He said low-cost carriers did not eat into the market of the regular "legacy" carriers but had created new markets, a development that was very good for the airline industry.

Murad said he was proud that Malaysia-based AirAsia had begun the low-cost revolution in the region and added that the airline's aggressive growth remained unmatched in Asia.

Kuala Lumpur's new low-cost terminal has already become almost a home base for the airline. It is being used by both AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Thailand.

Murad said the AirAsia companies accounted for 70 flights per day at KL International Airport and had carried four million passengers last year.

They aim to carry five million this year.

Murad said the new single-level low-cost terminal had three arrival halls and 72 check-in counters, with a capacity of 10 million passengers per year.

When this capacity is reached, there are plans for extensions which will boost the terminal's capacity to 15 million passengers. Two satellite buildings will be added in 2011, further expanding passenger capacity.

"We welcome low-cost carriers from around the world," Murad said.

To attract more budget airlines to the terminal, the airport is offering free landing and parking facilities until May next year, as well as three-year leases. This offer also covers charter and cargo flights.

Murad said the terminal had 30 parking bases for aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s, with a turn-around time of 25 minutes.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which handled 23 million passengers last year, was voted Number One Airport in the 15-million to 25-million passenger category by an International Air Transport Association group in 2005.

With airport signs in five languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Japanese, it is expecting 24.5 million passengers this year.

Murad said low-cost carriers were expected to account for 20 per cent of KL International Airport's total passenger traffic. AirAsia Malaysia already recorded a 30-per-cent increase in passengers in the first quarter of this year, when it was targeting only 23 per cent.

"With the opening of the new Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand we expect the airline industry in the region, including the low-cost carriers, to boom," he said.

Lekha J Shankar

Special to The Nation