KotaKinabalu IA:NewT1opening

[jpatokal]

Scheduled time 36 months, actual time needed 7 months?! There must be some interesting screwup behind this, but the article (http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/state_news/news.php?id=236883&cat=sbe) doesn't say what:

KOTA KINABALU, Dec 16 (Bernama) -- Kota Kinabalu International Airport's Terminal 2 is expected to start operations on Jan 1 next year, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said.

He told reporters after visiting the project here that the construction work was expected to be completed by end of the month, 29 months ahead of schedule.

He said the contractor, Global Upline Sdn Bhd, had set a record for taking the shortest time to construct a building in Sabah.

"We're happy. The progress is good.

"It seems, it'll be completed earlier than scheduled. According to Tan Sri Ting Pek Khing (Global Upline adviser), it'll be ready by end of the month, after taking only seven months to build it," he said.

"It's all because of management efficiency. The quality of work too is very good. This is what we want," he added.
Note that this "big, beautiful" terminal will be KKIA's budget terminal and thus just an oversized hangar like the one at KLIA.

[GWR]

Sunday August 17, 2008 MYT 4:37:45 PM
New KK International Airport terminal opens Tuesday
By RUBEN SARIO

KOTA KINABALU: The RM1.4bil makeover of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport here is one more step closer to completion once the new main terminal here becomes operational on Tuesday.

Malaysia Airports senior general manager Datuk Azmi Murad said operations at the existing terminal would be shifted to the new RM720mil building at 12.01am on that day.

He said the new Terminal 1 would be capable of handling up to 3,200 passengers per hour during peak periods and have 64 check-in counters for international and domestic flights as well 17 aircraft parking bays.

Azmi noted that elements indigenous to Sabah were incorporated into the interior of the terminal where design of column heads were inspired by the wakid or traditional baskets used by the Kadazandusun and Murut communities.

“Ethnic patterns of the Rungus and Bajau communities were also incorporated into the way the floor tiles were laid out,” he told a media briefing Sunday at the new terminal building here.

He said the old terminal that had been used since the 1980s would be demolished and rebuilt by mid-2009. It would be incorporated with the new building, doubling the floor space to more than 100,00sq m and be used mainly for domestic arrivals and departures.

Azmi said with 4.3 million passengers using the KKIA last year, the airport was one of the busiest after the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). In comparison, the number of passengers passing through the Kuching and Penang airports in 2007 was about 3 million.

For this year, MAB was anticipating that up to 4.6 million passengers would be passing through the KKIA that had a capacity of handling up to 9 million passengers annually.

“Going by an average growth of between 5% and 8% in passenger volume annually, we expect the terminal to reach its capacity in about eight to 10 years,” Azmi said, adding that there was however still room for expansion.

The KKIA redevelopment also includes the construction of a low cost carrier terminal that was operational last year as well as the extension of the runway to 3,780m and a full-length taxiway scheduled to be completed in 2009.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/17/nation/20080817145343&sec=nation