KLIA Ready To Welcome MAS’ New A380 in June

Travellers flying Malaysia Airlines’ new A380 aircraft to London in July will be able to fly in style and comfort as the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has improved its facilities to accomodate the new aircraft’s arrival.

“Our modifications include widening the runway and the taxiway, and upgrading the pavement strength and ground service requirements,” said KLIA general manager Mohammad Suhaimi Abdul Mubin.

“We have also added a third passenger boarding bridge for the aircraft. Altogether, the total cost of the upgrades is estimated to be RM116mil.”

All set: Malaysia Airlines staff are all pumped up for the arrival of the new A380 aircraft.

Mohd Suhaimi said three main parking bays and five alternate bays had been allocated for the new aircraft and improvements had been made to facilitate passenger arrivals at the departure gate from the main terminal building.

“Previously, our track transit system (TTS), or aerotrain, had only two coaches per train. We are adding one more coach to them.” Mohammad Suhaimi said.

“We also plan to have one more train on standby in case any of the other coaches needs maintenance.”

KLIA will receive the first of six new A380 aircraft in June. The aircraft will fly to London three times a week from July 1, and daily from Aug 25, with its inaugural flight to London on July 1 this year.

The A380 seats 494 passengers, with eight First Class seats, 66 Business Class seats, and 430 Economy seats. This is a 37% increase in capacity from the B747-400 aircraft currently used for flights to London.

Relaxed: The new Gate Holding Lounges can seat about 450 to 480 people each.

Mohammad Suhaimi said passengers could relax at the upgraded Gate Holding Lounges before boarding.

The lounges, he said, had two levels, each measuring 800 sq m. Its facilities include 12 television sets, nine payphones and two air purifiers per lounge.

Malaysia Airlines executive vice-president Hayati Ali said Malaysia Airlines was the first airline to showcase the A380 in a new livery, and also the eighth carrier in the world to operate the aircraft.

“Taking the A380 will be a completely different experience, from the beginning on the ground to the flight and arrival in London.

“It will be something everyone can look forward to. The service provided will be different,” she said.

Hayati said tickets for the A380’s inaugural flight to London were already on sale, and were expected to be very popular. She believed First Class tickets had already been sold out.

YouTube users also have the chance to win a joyride aboard the A380 with Malaysia Airline’s recently launched Big Flight competition.

Ready to go: Priority seats are also available.

Those interested need to submit a short video by April 22, stating why they are unique and deserve to fly on the A380.

Twenty shortlisted videos, chosen on creativity, originality and overall impression, will be put up on YouTube for voting by the public and the top eight most voted videos will win the joyride tickets.

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By Terrence Toh The Star.