The Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) is preparing to create the best first impression for athletes and officials visiting the country for the 29th SEA Games in August.

As the welcoming partner for the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games, branded as KL 2017, MAHB want to create stimulus and enjoyable experience for the visitors entering Malaysia through its airports.

"MAHB want to ease their immigration and customs processing with special counters, besides providing volunteers to assist them as the number of athletes and officials will be high during that time. We will make sure the welcoming and send-off of the SEA Games participants are smooth," MAHB Corporate Communications General Manager Nik Anis Nik Zakaria told Bernama today.

The airports involved are the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), klia2, Langkawi International Airport and Sultan Mahmud Airport in Terengganu, which are the entry points to the venues.

MAHB in March this year inked an agreement with the Malaysian SEA Games Organising Commitee (MASOC) as the gold sponsor for the KL2017, with the amount of sponsorship ranging between RM3 million and RM7.5 million.

A total of 6,000 to 7,000 of athletes, as well as hundreds of officials from 11 ASEAN countries including Malaysia are expected to take part in the 405 events from 38 sports during the SEA Games.

Besides that, MAHB also plans to set up digital screens in the airports to broadcast the Games'' to the passengers and visitors, as well as set up sports corners to exhibit SEA Games information and its related sports.

"MAHB see this (SEA Games) as an opportunity to get the public involved with the hype and vibes of SEA Games. We will designate certain areas to set up the screens, so that the public can watch the Games from airports, as many use Malaysia as transit point.

"The sports corner will showcase information, demonstration and sports simulation, where the public can try playing certain sports, so when people especially foreigners enter the airport, they will know immediately that Malaysia is hosting the SEA Games," said Nik Anis.

She said MAHB would also be part of the SEA Games Torch Run in August, where the run was planned to be held from KLIA to AirAsia''s headquarters, the RedQ, in Sepang.

The SEA Games will be held from Aug 19-30, while the ASEAN Para Games is scheduled from Sept 17-23. - BERNAMA