GEORGE TOWN, Feb 24 — The Penang government is ready to give its full support to the Transport Ministry and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) implementation of the Penang International Airport (PIA) expansion project.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the airport expansion can cater to some 20 million passengers annually.
"Penang welcomes the airport expansion project announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Budget 2023. We hope that the project can start this year and be completed in three years," he said in a statement here today.
Chow, who is also the Member of Parliament for Batu Kawan, said the expansion will be able to boost the socio-economic development of the Northern Corridor states and Penang’s tourism and industrial sector.
During Budget 2023 presentation in Parliament today, Anwar announced the expansion of PIA and Subang Airport but plans to halt Kulim’s new airport construction.
The expansion of the two airports, to be spearheaded by the MAHB, was lower compared with building a new airport in Kulim, Kedah which was estimated to cost RM7 billion, he said.
Meanwhile, Penang State Executive Councillor for Tourism and Creative Economy (PETACE) Yeoh Soon Hin said he had spoken previously with the Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook on PIA’s expansion with the hope that it can take off immediately with federal government support.
"PETACE has been actively engaging various international airlines to develop direct flights to Penang. However, the limitation of the airport apron and passenger handling capacity was a major hindrance to start new direct flight routes. This makes Budget 2023’s allocation for the airport expansion all the more crucial," he said.
For the record, PIA was upgraded in 2013 to cater to 6.5 million passengers per annum (PPA) but passengers grew rapidly. By 2019, it recorded a total 8.3 million PPA.
The Transport Ministry approved the proposal to expand the airport under Pakatan Harapan’s previous administration but this was put on hold after the abrupt change in the federal government in early 2020.
The federal government also said that airport expansion plans nationwide would be postponed pending the finalisation of the National Airport Strategic Plan study. — Bernama
