MAHB Assures Silent Airport Movement To Be Seamless For Passengers

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is committed to ensuring a seamless airport experience for all airport users at the KL international airport (KLIA) and klia2 following the implementation of silent airport movement from Dec 1. The airport has stopped the numerous and disruptive boarding call announcements and public paging service in its bid to create a calm and relaxed ambiance for its passengers. "We wish to assure passengers that the following announcements will still be maintained for the passengers’ convenience -- final calls for boarding, flight delays or cancellations, baggage delays, unattended luggage, Muslim prayer time and important announcements during an emergency,” MAHB said in a statement Monday. MAHB also said communications on flight arrival, departure, boarding time and gates information were constantly displayed on its 1,000 Flight Information Display screens (FIDS) around the terminals. The airport operator said it would be working closely with its airline partners in providing facilitation for the visually impaired and elderly passengers following the implementation of the initiative. "These passengers will be assisted by our Airport CARE Ambassadors and airline ground staff where guidance will be provided during check-in, baggage check, customs controls and the journey to the boarding gates,” it said. MAHB also reminded passengers to inform their respective airlines if they required such facilitation during flight booking. "Passengers will be taken to a special handling lounge by the airlines who will provide assistance. "Passengers may also approach our CARE ambassadors at the information counters and we will further coordinate with the airlines to ensure they board the plane safely,” it said. MAHB said with over 500 daily announcements made previously, the communications were deemed disruptive, causing unnecessary anxiety and confusion to passengers. It said the two type of announcements – boarding call announcements and public paging service – that were removed made up as much as 70 per cent of the daily announcements previously. "We believe that this is a positive move for the airport in providing a soothing environment to the passengers prior to their flight,” MAHB said. MAHB Acting Group Chief Executive Officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, in the statement ,said the ‘silent airport’ initiative was to improve airport guests’ experience, after having completed surveys that resulted in respondents welcoming the move. “This pilot project is carried out only at Kuala Lumpur until the end of the year to allow us to fine-tune the implementation, after which we may extend to other airports that we are operating,” he said. -- BERNAMA