Glitches Snarl Malaysia's New Airport
International Herald Tribune
July 1, 1998
Thomas Fuller

Kuala Lumpur's new airport opened Tuesday with glitches in its central computer causing the baggage and check-in systems to shut, bringing chaos to Southeast Asia's biggest airport.

After waiting several hours for their luggage, hundreds of angry passengers arriving from Buenos Aires, Johannesburg, Los Angeles and Taipei, clapped in unison at the baggage claim, chanting: "Lug-gage! Lug-gage! Lug-gage!"

Departing flights were delayed, computer screens throughout the terminal went blank and arriving passengers who did manage to get their luggage were faced with a taxi line of several hundred people, as the cab company given a monopoly at the airport failed to keep up with demand.

"These are first-day problems," said Khairuddin Ibrahim, managing director of Malaysia Airports Berhad, the company charged with running the airport. "It will improve."

The chairman of Malaysia Airlines, Tajudin Ramli, said that he expected some "teething problems" with the airport's ambitious computer system.

Passengers, however, said they were frustrated at the lack of information about the delays.

"We were treated like mushrooms — kept in the dark," said Charles Tiedt, 46, who arrived from Johannesburg early Tuesday and whose bags arrived on the carousel three hours after his plane touched down.

"Everyone understands it's a new airport and that there might be some problems," added Mr. Tiedt's wife, Jeanette, 41. "But not one single person has come here to tell us what has happened."

Tuesday marked the first full day of operations at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, a $3 billion project that was spearheaded by Malaysia's prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.

The airport, which will eventually feature hiking trails in the adjoining jungle and a Formula One motorcycle circuit, is the first of two East Asian airports to open this week. Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok will be inaugurated by President Jiang Zemin of China and President Bill Clinton of the United States on Thursday.

Despite the delays, passengers said they liked the new airport's design — its lofty wood-paneled ceiling and marble floor.

"It's impressive," said Reese Hamson, 48, an Australian whose surfboards were several hours late in arriving at the baggage area. "Much better than the old one."

Airport officials spent most of Monday night transporting equipment from the old airport — a 1960s-era structure built to handle 400,000 passengers but which last year handled 16 million — to the new. Frequent fliers to Kuala Lumpur said that although they disliked using the old airport, they would miss its proximity to the city.

The new airport is about 75 kilometers (46 miles) from central Kuala Lumpur, three times as far as the old and at least four times as expensive by taxi. A one-way fare is about 80 ringgit ($20)

"I think that will affect lower-income people," said Sharkawi Bohari, a businessman from East Malaysia, who waited for his bags in a darkened arrival hall where overhead lights had inexplicably switched off.

The airport's chief, Mr. Khairuddin, said the issue of distance would soon be forgotten. "People get used to the distance. If it was near the city center it would be an issue."

The airport, which is linked to central Kuala Lumpur by a six-to-eight-lane highway, is just under an hour away by taxi, not counting traffic jams.

The issue is irrelevant for transit passengers at the new airport. It is these travelers that Malaysia hopes to lure away from such other hubs in the region as Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Mr. Khairuddin said that Kuala Lumpur would compete on the basis of landing fees, which he said would not change from those charged at the old airport.

"It's a far cry from Hong Kong," he said. "In terms of rates, we are quite cheaper."

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