More airlines return to Malaysia’s Subang Airport as rejuvenation plans take off

KUALA LUMPUR – Subang Airport is abuzz again as more jet planes depart from there starting this month, as part of

a 10-year plan to rejuvenate what was once Malaysia’s premier airport

finally takes off.

While the resumption of more airline services has been met with cheer from commuters and industry players who note the airport’s value and proximity to Kuala Lumpur, public transport connectivity and noise pollution for those living in the area remain concerns.

The Subang Airport Regeneration Plan (SARP) is expected to cost RM3.7 billion (S$1.08 billion) through to completion in 2030.

The return of narrow-body aircraft operations to Subang Airport will be the first step in transforming the dilapidated airport in Selangor into a modern, green city airport terminal, a business aviation hub, as well as a hub for the aerospace industry for maintenance, repair and overhaul operations, and research and development, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke said at a media conference on July 30.

Opened in 1965, Subang Airport, also known as Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, was for a time the main aviation gateway into Malaysia until 1998, when the government shifted international airline operations to the then newly built Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

Four years later, all jet-operated domestic flights by national carrier Malaysia Airlines and its low-cost rival AirAsia were also moved to KLIA to grow air passenger traffic and increase ridership on the KLIA Ekspres, the fast rail link that connects the capital city to KLIA.

Only propeller-driven aircraft, such as Firefly’s turboprop ATR-72, which serves the commercial Subang-Singapore Seletar route, has been operating out of Subang Airport since then, in addition to a few small carriers like SKS Airways and Batik Air operating domestic routes.

For AirAsia Malaysia’s managing director Fareh Mazputra Fairuz, who used to pilot planes out of Subang Airport for many years, there is a sense of homecoming with the return of more traffic to its runways.

“It is quite sentimental and nostalgic. I practically grew up here,” he told The Straits Times recently.

From Aug 1, six airlines began operating narrow-body passenger aircraft at Subang Airport. They include Singapore low-cost carrier

Scoot

– which will launch a Changi-Subang route from Sept 1 – Malaysia’s Firefly and AirAsia, and Indonesia’s TransNusa.

For frequent flyers, this is good news. Dr Alan Thoo, who travels often for work, told ST that he prefers using Subang Airport as it is nearer to his home in Kota Kemuning, Klang district, than KLIA.

“For the Grab fare from my home in Kota Kemuning, I pay RM25 to travel to Subang Airport compared with RM80 to KLIA,” he said.

KLIA is located in Sepang, Selangor, about 60km from downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Subang Airport is a shorter distance to the Kuala Lumpur city centre than Sepang – just 25km – and would appeal to time-sensitive business travellers, said Mr Loke, adding that the plan is to see the airport handling up to three million passengers per year, from the current 1.5 million yearly.

To accommodate this increase in volume, new boarding gates, immigration counters, check-in counters and self-service bag drop facilities were added in June 2024.

“This is just an interim phase. We will build a new terminal to increase Subang Airport’s capacity in the next three years,” Mr Loke said at the July media conference.

However, passengers say the authorities need to iron out issues, including seamless transport connection between Subang Airport and downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Azhar Abdul Majid, who was at Subang Airport in July to see his mother off on a flight to Alor Setar, 362km north in Kedah, hopes the new facilities will mean improved public transport connectivity to downtown Kuala Lumpur. Currently, only a handful of public bus services run from Subang Airport to the capital city centre.

“We had a Komuter Skypark Link that was not so widely promoted. Bus, taxi and e-hailing services need to be improved,” he said.

There was a Skypark Link, launched in 2018, a 28-minute limited express train service linking Subang Airport to KL Sentral, where commuters could easily connect to other main urban rail services and to KLIA.

But the service was suspended in Febuary 2023 due to poor ridership. Mr Loke said the Skypark Link service will resume once the new Subang terminal is completed in 2027 to offer better connectivity.

Parts of Subang Airport have been neglected over the years, with rusted iron gates and overgrown grass seen in some corners. But the areas surrounding the airport have developed rapidly, sprouting development projects such high-rise condominiums in the residential Ara Damansara and Elmina townships.

While travellers welcome another airport option, residents living around Subang will have to deal with heightened noise from the revived airport. 

The increase in air traffic has raised concerns about noise pollution among local residents, said Subang Jaya assemblywoman Michelle Ng.

“Residents who experienced the boom of Subang Airport raised this as a concern when the Ministry of Transport announced plans to redevelop the airport (in February 2023),” Ms Ng said, referring to the noise from air traffic.

In response to these concerns, Mr Loke said there would be a curfew on scheduled jet operations between 10pm and 6am daily, and a set limit on jet slots for Subang Airport.

As an industry veteran, Datuk Fareh believes that Subang Airport will make a good city airport offering a simpler, fuss-free travel experience as compared to KLIA. The former, being on a smaller scale, is easier to navigate, with faster clearing times for immigration and checked baggage.

“Those who want to fly into the city airport do not want the complexity of a large airport. I don’t want to arrive three to four hours before departure. If I have a check-in bag, I can print out the baggage tag, drop it off, and be at the gate within five minutes.”

“Hopefully, we can maintain such simplicity to provide a lot of convenience and value to customers,” he said.

Interestingly enough, some residents that ST spoke to said that they have grown accustomed to the noise.

Subang resident Adrian Lim joked that only outsiders would struggle to adjust.

“I remember there was a teacher who was not a local. Every 10 minutes, she had to cover her ears to withstand the noise during classes. But if we don’t listen to the noise, sometimes we can’t sleep,” said the 44-year-old businessman.