Forum Report on Airport Operations and Stakeholder’s Expectations: A Metamorphosis into the Future

FORUM REPORT ON AIRPORT OPERATIONS AND STAKEHOLDER’S EXPECTATIONS: A METAMORPHOSIS INTO THE FUTURE

In the past, an airport is just a place where aircraft regularly take off and land, with buildings for passengers to wait in. However, over the years, as more and more people travel by air, airport has become an important place not just for people to board aircraft and land at, it has evolved into a complex system whereby more and more entities are involved and commercial activities take place.

Different people see airport differently. Some see it as a marketplace and where business activities take place. Hotel, shopping malls and even theatre, are becoming more and more common business entities in the airport nowadays. As the airport is becoming more and more busier place, there is a fear of the security threat. Therefore, there is a need to be more stringent in term of security and regulation in the airport.

It has become more evident that digitalisation is taking place into airport system to improve its efficiency and productivity. Biometric identification, face recognition, computerised check-in etc. are just few of the examples of how digital technology is taking its way in the airport complex system to make process, security check and activity related to check-in and boarding faster. However, there is still a concern on the degree of safety and security within the airport.

The speakers were asked on why airport need to be strict. CAAM (Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia) has spoken that safety is a non-negotiable matter and so is security. The Malaysia aviation regulatory body is always ready to face the challenges in term of implementation of new rules and regulations to make the airport a safer place. It is of the opinion of the Air Asia spoke person in the forum that most of the time security in the airport is event-induced, whereby new rules and regulations are only introduced after an untoward event has taken place. For example, when the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang was formerly used by Air Asia for their operation before they shifted to KLIA2, there was problem with human trafficking as the departure and arrival terminal were not separated. There was indeed a big loop hole for illicit activities to take place which was later rectified when the whole airline’s operation moved to KLIA2. Since security is of utmost importance, there is need to have more proactive moves to study potential threats instead of acting after an incident or accident takes place. There is also opinion that regulations should stay but digitalisation should make procedure simpler and faster.