Transport minister Loke Siew Fook has dismissed claims that airlines are no longer interested in operating from the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB) in Subang, stating that several carriers remain keen to secure slots.
He said while some airlines, such as AirAsia, pulled out after finding Subang impractical for their operations, others had expressed interest in taking over.
“It is not true that no airlines are interested in Subang. There are airlines that, based on their own considerations, have decided not to operate there,” Loke told reporters after chairing the National Aviation Consultative Council meeting here today.
“For example, AirAsia has all its operations at KLIA Terminal 2, so it doesn’t make sense for them to put just one or two aircraft in Subang. So, they decided to leave Subang and focus entirely on Terminal 2.
“When we first opened up slots in Subang, most airlines didn’t want to miss out and applied for them. But after some time, they realised it wasn’t the most practical move and pulled out.”
Firefly officially ended its jet operations at SZB on Aug 19 while AirAsia ceased its operations at the airport on April 7.
Firefly’s turboprop services will, however, continue operating as usual from the airport, serving routes to Penang, Seletar (Singapore), Kota Bharu and Johor Bahru.
Loke said slot allocation was determined by a committee under the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), not the transport ministry.
He also said Subang’s facilities remain limited, with only one jet flight allowed per hour.
On the Subang airport regeneration plan, he said phase one had been completed, while phase two was awaiting a decision by MAHB’s new board following its privatisation.
Hesaid while the Cabinet had approved the plan two years ago, its implementation rested with MAHB.
In March 2024, MAHB said its Subang airport redevelopment plan would likely see an expenditure of RM3.7 billion until 2030.
MAHB is hoping to redevelop SZB into a regional aviation hub in a joint venture with Subang Skypark Sdn Bhd.
