PETALING JAYA: The incident involving the aerotrains at KL International Airport (KLIA) was caused by a dislodged current collector device (CCD), which triggered a power loss to the train, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) confirms.
MAHB acknowledged the public’s concerns regarding the KLIA Aerotrain service and the technical issues that have affected its operations, saying that it remains committed to safe, reliable, and efficient services to all its passengers.
Managing director Datuk Mohd Izani Ghani said, “We are equally disappointed, considering that the Aerotrain had just undergone a scheduled two-week maintenance involving all contractors.
“I have been made to understand by the Aerotrain’s Project Coordination Lead, Alstom, that the cause of yesterday’s incident was a dislodged CCD that triggered a loss of power to the train,” he said in a statement Thursday (Sept 4)
The aerotrain service between the main terminal and satellite terminal at KLIA employs Alstom Innovia APM 300R train sets.
“In our ongoing discussions, Alstom has agreed to provide a more detailed explanation regarding the dislodged CCD.
“I have also requested for Alstom to thoroughly investigate and vigilantly work with our own engineering teams during the daily train maintenance hours to identify potential risks,” added Mohd Izani.
On Sept 3, a power trip caused one of the aerotrains at KLIA to halt temporarily before reaching the satellite terminal in the afternoon.
KLIA, in a post on its official Facebook page, stated that the incident occurred at 1.36pm and affected a single aerotrain service.
MAHB said that the KLIA Aerotrain’s performance is continuously measured according to several indicators, including operational service availability (time in service over planned time in service).
On a cumulative monthly basis, in its first month of service (July 2025), the aerotrain recorded an overall OSA of 97.27%, according to MAHB.
“The OSA for August improved significantly to 99.93%,” it added.
Passenger numbers transferred between the main and satellite terminals via the Aerotrain have shown an upward trend, with 1.4 million passengers in July, and 1.7 million passengers in August, it noted.
Cumulatively, the three aerotrains have logged an average of 10,586 km in July and 10,723km in August.
The two trains also demonstrated increased mileage in the last week of August, added MAHB.
Between Aug 21 and 27, Train 1 recorded 2,530km, an increase from 1,765km the previous week while Train 2 logged 2,373km compared with 2,035km earlier, reflecting improved reliability and utilisation, explained MAHB.
“These achievements underscore our continuous efforts to enhance system performance and passenger experience.
However, as the airport operator, we expect better. We will continue to work with Alstom to implement comprehensive measures, including ongoing software updates and system enhancements, to ensure that such disruptions are minimised moving forward,” added Mohd Izani.
“I have also requested for an exhaustive remediation plan to minimise future occurrences. While there were no disruptions to airport operations and passenger transfers between the terminals during the incident, our aim is to get ahead of operational issues.
“We deeply appreciate the patience and understanding of our passengers and stakeholders as we work diligently to deliver on our commitment to world-class service standards in all aspects of airport operations,” he said.
“Alstom acknowledges the recent service interruption involving one of the KLIA Aerotrain units on 3rd Sept 2025. We are working closely with our supplier to support a thorough investigation into the root cause of the incident, which has been preliminarily attributed to a CCD,” said Alstom’s country managing director for Malaysia Sim Ooi Kok.
“This incident is not reflective of the overall performance of the newly relaunched Aerotrain system.
“As a precautionary and corrective measure to reinforce system reliability, all CCDs will be inspected daily to detect any signs of abnormality.
“Alstom is dedicated to providing safe, reliable APM systems and continues to support the Malaysia Airports’ team to ensure uninterrupted service,” he added.
