The Transport Ministry has called for an emergency meeting following a breakdown in the baggage handling system at KLIA Terminal 1 yesterday evening that caused delays of up to four hours for arriving passengers.
Transport minister Loke Siew Fook said he has directed the ministry’s secretary-general to organise the meeting on Monday with all relevant agencies.
Review of airport procedures
“The meeting will undertake a thorough review of the existing SOPs governing breakdown management at our airports, with a specific focus on response time, passenger communication, and contingency protocols,” he said in a statement.
Loke noted that although the baggage handling system was restored the same evening, a mere technical fix does not resolve the underlying issues.
He stressed that the incident highlighted problems that must be addressed at a deeper level.
Accountability demanded
“Passengers who travel through our national gateway deserve a standard of service reliability that this incident has clearly failed to meet,” he added.
Loke expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to travellers.
He has also instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia to launch a full investigation into the incident and to determine whether punitive action should be taken against Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd for the service failure.
“A national gateway cannot afford repeated lapses of this nature. MAHB, as the operator of KLIA, will be held accountable for this breakdown,” he said.
Loke emphasised that Malaysia cannot achieve its aspiration of becoming one of the world’s best airports without building a genuine culture of accountability and responsibility within the organisation.
