December 8, 2006
Terminal Stupidity…
via Malaysian Billboard:
Ten years ago in Kuala Lumpur, when you had to fly to a domestic destination, you travelled 30 minutes to Subang Airport, where you left from the
1954-style (should be 1965 as pointed out by Billy) terminal where you had to go out on the tarmac in the rain and climb up a staircase to get on the plane.Then, the government built a multi-billion ringgit global hub terminal 75 minutes away from KL with world-class everything.
Then, they built a high-speed rail connection so it takes only 30 minutes to get there. Despite this, the global hub terminal remains a deserted ghost-town with far more gate capacity than flights.
AirAsia then starts up. Everyone can fly and the global hub terminal begins to come to life. So the government decides to build AirAsia far, far away terminal at the other end of the airport, one that replicates the old 1954-style terminal. It doesn’t connect to the high-speed train.
Then, almost all domestic flights are shifted over to AirAsia. So now you have to take a 75 minute bus ride to the far, far away terminal and walk out in the rain and climb the stairs just like back in 1954,
while the global hub terminal is once again deserted.Oh, and if you need to transfer from an overseas flight to a domestic flight, you have to take a half-an-hour bus ride from the global hub terminal to the far, far away terminal.
Is this back to the future or back to the past? Or is it just what people called ‘terminal stupidity’?
lol…this is so true!
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The old Subang Airport was completed in 1965 and not 1954. I believe you were referring to the old Sungei Besi Airport which used to cater for commercial flights, especially those Dakota planes with propellers (I should know because my house was right in front of the airfield). Once the Subang terminal was up, the Sg Besi airport was turned into a military base, and with the extended runway, my house was ultimately demolished.
I used to be a tourist guide in the 70s and I enjoyed myself thoroughly seeing the number of flights and tourists landing at the Subang Airport. The KLIA now look a pathetic sight. They should have retained the Subang terminal perhaps with some renovation to make it world class but as usual it is always one step forward and five steps backwards. Now the rakyat has to suffer for it.
Comment by Billy — December 8, 2006 @ 8:37 pm