KL ATCC in Sepang to be landmark of country's civil aviation industry - PM Najib

At the ground-breaking ceremony for the RM650 million complex today, Najib said it would be another important milestone in the country's transformation programme, to improve the quality of public service delivery.

"If the air traffic services are managed properly and efficiently, it will definitely instil trust and confidence in the airline and air transport industry in Malaysia.

"It will prove that we do not compromise in ensuring the best service, in being efficient, and most importantly, on safety," he said.

The complex will house the air traffic control operations for the Kuala Lumpur Flight Information Region (KL FIR), becoming the backbone of the country's air traffic control, as well as the central coordination centre for the Department of Civil Aviation's (DCA) Search and Rescue (SAR) system.

Najib said the KL ATCC project would be the starting point to restructuring the KL FIR airspace when completed.

He said the restructuring exercise would make KLIA the only airport in the region to operate at the maximum level through three runways simultaneously.

"This simultaneous operation is targeted to increase the landing capacity at KLIA from 78 to 108 aircraft per hour, which is among the highest in the world," he said.

The increase, he said, could provide good returns to the country through continued development of the country's aviation industry.

Najib also announced that the DCA would be transformed into a statutory body known as the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM), expected to be fully functional by mid-year.

The establishment of CAAM, he said, would ensure affairs involving Malaysia's civil aviation industry meet the safety standards and procedures recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

It would also give CAAM the freedom to organise and place qualified technical personnel to ensure Malaysia's obligation to ensuring safety of the country's civil aviation industry was in line with the aspirations of the ICAO.

Najib said Malaysia had set up the Malaysia Aviation Commission on March 1 last year, which was responsible for regulating the economic and commercial aspects of civil aviation in the country.

Also present at the ground-breaking ceremony of the complex scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2019, were Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Ab Aziz Kaprawi and Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Seri Azaruddin Abdul Rahman.

At a press conference after the ceremony, Liow said the construction of the new KL ATTC would allow more aircraft to land during peak hours or premium slots.

"The premium slots are usually in the morning until noon, and evenings between 6pm and 8pm.

"The airports in some other countries give landing slots at midnight or early morning (to cope with the traffic) and this makes them not so competitive," he said.

According to Liow, only two airports in Asia, namely Beijing and Shanghai, China are capable of operating at the maximum level through the operation of three runways simultaneously.

He said the KL ATCC would also be an administrative centre and operations management office equipped with facilities such as a theatre, multipurpose hall, and lounge for the comfort of air traffic controllers, and at the same time ensure safe flights.

Earlier in his speech, Liow said a new satellite-based surveillance system, namely the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) would be introduced, in line with the Aviation System Block Upgrade (ASBU) targets set by ICAO.

He said the system would help air traffic controllers to pinpoint the location of an aircraft much more accurately, allowing them to implement much more efficient use of airspace, besides enabling surveillance coverage at a much lower cost than the radar-based system.

"The system is also expected to improve the effectiveness of SAR missions to detect the location of aircraft," he added.