Tony Fernandes defends proposal to rename klia2 to LCCT

AirAsia chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes today defended his proposal to rename the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) to Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT).

He said he will meet Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai on Wednesday to discuss the issue further.

AirAsia and airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) have locked horns following the low-cost carrier's insistence to go ahead with its promotional campaign to refer to klia2 as LCCT2.

Although he recognised MAHB’s right to name the airport, Tony defended AirAsia’s marketing strategy to promote Malaysia as Asia’s low cost carrier.

“We do not have the right to change the name of the terminal. We are suggesting it. We are meeting the minister tomorrow to discuss it,” he said today.

“But, we are a marketing company. We are seeing an opportunity in making Malaysia the hub of low cost travel for Asia," he said.

“For the first time in history we are seeing Singaporeans coming up to Malaysia and flying on us to different parts of Asia. That is history.

“I grew up all my years fly to Singapore and taking other airlines. What is our advantage? Low cost. And so, we want to promote our terminal which we are calling LCCT is the place to come for low fares,” he said.

It was reported that AirAsia had changed the name klia2 to LCCT in its boarding passes.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) told Bernama that plans to rename the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) would just be a waste of funds. Its president Ajit Johl said the funds could be better utilised to improve public services at the airport. "The klia2 has been operating for the past two years and it has never been an issue. Why now? "The klia2 is designed to allow seamless connectivity for both local and international low-cost plus full-service carriers and renaming it as low cost carrier terminal defeats the intended purpose," he said.