LCCT - Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal

The Low Cost Carrier Terminal is specifically built at KL International Airport to cater to the growing passengers of the Low Cost Airlines. It is located 20km away from the KLIA Main Terminal Building (MTB). Construction of the LCC Terminal started on June 2005 at an approximate cost of RM 108 million.

The LCC Terminal was opened for familiarization on 9th March 2006 and will be fully operational on 23rd March 2006. This terminal is managed and operated by Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd. The LCC Terminal is mainly use by AirAsia.

LCCT - Dimensions & Facilities

Terminal Size	:	35,290m²
Check-in Area	:	2,650m²
International Departure Hall	:	3,240m²
International Arrival Hall	:	4,340m²
Domestic Departure Hall	:	4,430m²
Domestic Arrival Hall	:	1,900m²
Public Concourse Main Area	:	4,355m²
Public Concourse International Arrival Area	:	325m²
Common, Ramp and Circulation	:	6,760m²

The LCC Terminal has common facilities and amenities for the conveniences of the passengers and users of the terminal. Retail and F&B outlets are located at the Public Concourse and at Departure and Arrival Halls for both International and Domestic areas. Duty Free shops are available at the International Arrival & Departure Lounges.

Other facilities and services include Foreign Exchange Counter, pay phones, Auto Teller Machines (ATM), Hotel Reservation, Car Rental, Taxi Service and Prayer Room.

My Opinion

The first time is been to the KLIA LCC Terminal was to catch a flight to Indonesia earlier this month. I'm flying with AirAsia - Malaysian based low cost carrier. The first impression when I reach the terminal is that it looked like a typical centralized Malaysian wet market - the place you go and buy your meat, fish and vegetables. There's not covered car park and the traffic in and out of the terminal is choatic! There were taxis and private cars everywhere and some even coming at the opposite directions! Worst still, there are lots of passengers and terminal users standing outside the terminal! I've could imagine that inside the terminal, it'll be worst.

Next, I went into the terminal to find the check-in counter. To my surprise, there are enough direction signboards. I've no problem finding my check-in counter. I even saw 2 terminal officers busy directing terminal users and taking questions and it's only 7.00am. That's a plus point.

After collecting my boarding pass, I went to have breakfast. Honestly, not much choice. I only saw McDonald's and another shop serving local food. After comparing prices, I opted for burger. Nothing happened there. Everything is very McDonald's like. Smilling cashiers, hot steaming coffee and a very clean enviroment. There's even free copies of TheSun newspaper! Anyway, after having a satisfying breakfast, I went straight to immigration check-in.

Immigration checks is rather swift thanks to our chip-based passport. But there's a long waiting line for foreigners. Maybe there's a lot of flights at that time, i don't know... maybe, but the immigration officers are doing their jobs as usual.

Weather check! It's raining now! uh-oh! :(

Inside the Departure Hall

I'll explained later what's with the "uh-oh!". But for now, let me describe about the departure hall. To my surprise, it's rather weird. It has all the usual facilities available at full-cost terminals.... there's duty free shops, toilets, pay phones, info counters. But the only thing stand out is the sitting arrangement and the boarding gates. You can sit anywhere you want without even to care which boarding gate you being required to use. It's just choatic! When it's time to board, the waiting line is long... and messy.

Inside the departure hall. The crowds have not built up yet.

Normal facilities in the departure hall.

Now comes the uh-oh part. There's no aerobridge linking the boarding gates to the planes! The design of the KLIA LCC Terminal is that you'll need to walk along the uncovered tarmac from the boarding gate to the airplanes and it's raining now! My god! oh nevermind, I was telling myself... maybe they'll provide us with shuttlebuses to fetch us from the gate to the planes.. well... WRONG!!! NO BUS!! Instead, we were given an umbrella each and was told to walk in-line to board our flight! Then i again tell myself: "wahhh... not bad.. once it rains, we get a free AirAsia umbrella... what a luck... free stuffs!!" But then, the unpleseant thing happened - "Please return back the umbrellas before you enter the airplane, thank you!" yelled one AirAsia personnel at the boarding gate. Damn!!

They threathen to confiscate my Nokia 6670 when i took this picture

Conclusion

The KLIA LCC Terminal generally lacks of space. Even though the government claimed there's enough space but personally I think an airport must be hugely spacious and comfortable. There's also a need for more retail space because now it's very monopolic-like as terminal users and passengers have only few choices of retail outlets; and things sold are not cheap either.

Overall, I applauded the Malaysian government's effort to pioneer a brand new concept for flying. It's already cheap to fly but the KLIA LCC Terminal is just a start for what I hope to be a catalyst for other new LCC Terminals mushrooming around the country. Koudos to the Malaysian government!