Malaysia's government has unveiled a highly unusual initiative to boost business at its troubled airport at Kuala Lumpur that will see landing fees and parking charges waived for carriers operating new services.
The incentive will apply from 1 May and be available to new and existing customers adding new flights. It will only be available to passenger flights, however, with load factors of at least 25%.
The desperate move is designed to lure customers back to the struggling gateway airport following high-profile service cancellations since its mid-1998 opening.
Aeroflot, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, Lufthansa and Qantas have all pulled out, blaming weak demand and fare dumping by Malaysia Airlines.
Many have also complained about the lack of adequate transport links to the Kuala Lumpur business district, baggage clearance delays and cargo handling problems.
The waiving of fees is the first action taken by a high-level committee established by the government in March to study ways to halt the tide of cancellations and turn the airport into a key South-east Asian hub. Previous efforts to make the airport more attractive to customers have not done much to help, however.
Last year landing charges were cut by 50% for new carriers to the airport and those increasing frequencies.
Source: Flight International
