The Ministry of Transport (MoT) and Malaysia Airports (MAHB) have jointly announced that the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang will be rebranded from KLIA to Terminal 1. A similar arrangement will also be implemented on KLIA2 which will soon be renamed to Terminal 2.
Based on the announcements made by both parties, the idea to rebrand two of the country’s most popular entry and exit points were proposed by MAHB. It is apparently meant to help increase KLIA’s marketability and strengthen its competitiveness against other international airports within the region.
That being said, neither MoT nor MAHB has revealed when exactly the rebranding exercise will take place. All in all, details regarding it are still scarce at the moment although this does not come as a surprise given the revelation of the rebranding was done alongside the announcement of the new Operating Agreements 2023 between the government and MAHB.
Designed to replace Subang Airport’s role after the government determined the airport may not be able to handle the increase of air travels, the construction of KLIA began in 1993. The airport then officially opened its door in June 1998, just in time before the Commonwealth Games which took place in September of the same year.
On the other hand, KLIA2 began its operation in May 2014 as the replacement for the no-frills Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) that was originally opened in 2006. Aside from serving low-cost carriers such as AirAsia, AirAsia X, Cebu Pacific Air, Jetstar Asia, MYAirline, and Scoot, the airport also featured an integrated shopping mall called Gateway@klia2.
The rebranding of KLIA and KLIA2 certainly reminded us of the old Subang Airport during its heyday as Malaysia’s main airport between 1965 to 1998. At its peak, the airport has three terminals with Terminal 1 serving international flights while Terminal 2 for KL – Singapore route and Terminal 3 covering domestic flights.
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