KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has set aside RM400 million capital expenditure (CapEx) for 2021, slightly higher than the RM320 million allocated last year.
It said a bulk of the CapEx would go into critical big-ticket projects, such upgrading aging aerotrains, baggage handling system (BHS), facial recognition, optimising aircraft bays and adopting artificial intelligence (AI) in its system.
“Some of the CapEx, like BHS, will come in the second half of the year,” group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said at a media briefing entitled “Navigating Unprecedented Crisis and Way Forward (2021-2025)” here today.
He said the upgrading and rehabilitation of Kuala Lumpur International Airport's (KLIA) Runway 1 is currently at 70% and is expected to be completed by March this year, while the rehabilitation of Runway 2 is slated for 2026.
Meanwhile, he said the pandemic and reintroduction of the movement control order (MCO) continues to pose challenges, not least the closure of borders globally.
However, he said the passengers load factor this year is expected to improve by 60-70% with the deployment of Covid-19 vaccines worldwide.
Over the next five years, he said MAHB will focus on survival and recovery to ensure sustainability. – Bernama, January 20, 2021
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