SEPANG- Following the implementation of COVID-19 screening by the Ministry of Health (MOH) for all arrivals from Sabah, Malaysia Airports has been working closely with all relevant agencies to ensure passenger comfort and convenience, while going through this additional measure. We have highlighted our concerns to MOH and other related agencies and have immediately put in place a few improvement initiatives to further facilitate and smoothen the process.
Amongst the improvement initiatives are deploying mobile F&B carts at the test waiting areas so that passengers are able to purchase light refreshments while waiting. Additional manpower from our aviation security and customer experience teams have also been deployed to render assistance on the ground and help ensure physical distancing. Meanwhile, the elderly, disabled, pregnant mothers and families with young children will be given access to priority lanes to help ease their arrival process. Additional seats are provided at the arrival gates as well as along the flow path to the testing area, while passengers wait for their turns to be tested.
Yesterday (27 September 2020), Malaysia Airports and National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) had also distributed complimentary food packs to passengers who were waiting their turn to do the tests. There were a total of 12 flights carrying 1,400 passengers from Sabah at KL International Airport (KLIA) Main Terminal and 19 flights carrying 2,300 passengers at the klia2 terminal yesterday.
Similarly today we anticipate a surge of arrivals from Sabah and have notified MOH and all relevant authorities of the expected flights. There will be 10 flights arriving at KLIA Main Terminal and 19 flights at klia2 terminal throughout today.
We understand from the visit by the Minister of Health and Director General this morning at klia2, that MOH is adding more staff at both terminals to enable testing to be performed at a faster rate. The airport will continue to work with NADMA and contribute towards the distribution of complimentary food and drinks to passengers.
We are also working with the F&B providers to extend their operation hours to cater to the Sabah arrivals today. The F&B operators such as Starbucks, Kopi Kita, Needs Convenience, and WHSmith Convenience are normally opened until 8pm and we are requesting that they stay open longer for passenger convenience.
The airport is in constant communication with the COVID-19 Committee which includes all the key stakeholders of the airport and we hope that with the cooperation from all agencies and stakeholders, we will be able to deliver a smooth and seamless experience to our passengers.
