Khazanah Not Supportive Of LCCT In Labu

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the government's investment holding arm, is not supportive of the plan to build a permanent low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Labu, its managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said Monday.
He said the National Airport Masterplan should be used as a reference on what should be built for the sake of the country's development. "Under the masterplan, 10,000 hectares have already been set aside, of which only about a third has been used," he told reporters after presenting Khazanah's annual review here.
He was asked to state Khazanah's stand over the issue.
According to Azman, the airport sector is one where the clustering or network effect is important.
"We cannot have a few airports here and there because then you cannot get the connectivity," he said.
Describing it as a national issue, Azman said: "Certainly we should follow through".
"We have the masterplan and we should go back to that. I am sure that AirAsia and Malaysia Airports can sit down and resolve (the matter) for the country's benefit," he said.
When building the airport, they should have software and hardware connectivity to enable seamless travel, Azman said.
"We are shareholders of Malaysia Airlines, we always maintain that both MAS and AirAsia can co-exist so that everybody can benefit," he said.
"In short, we do not support the Labu project. We should stick to the National Airport Masterplan as a lot of resources had been put in," he added.
Earlier this month, Sime Darby announced that it has received government approval to develop the proposed private LCCT project.
The conglomerate said the project was an integral part of its development plan for the Negeri Sembilan Vision City (NSVC).
NSVC is part of its Central Vision Valley (CVV) property development project spanning Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
Sime Darby and budget airline AirAsia Bhd had proposed to jointly develop and operate the RM1.6 billion LCCT which will be known as KLIA-East@Labu.
The project will be privately funded.
The RM1.6 billion is an estimate of the cost of structures and the runway but does not include the 3,000-acre piece of land where it would be constructed.

tunku : khazanah should advice the government not to let sime darby proceed with the stupid idea of building a LCCT in Labu. after all sime darby is part of khazanah too. i am glad that khazanah MD did not follow the tune of his boss. there have been lots of damage done earlier and now it's time to put a full stop to it.bravo to khazanah for not being supportive of the plan to build a permanent low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Labu.