KLIA BECOMING A CARGO HUB FOR ASEAN REGION

Air cargo is US 50 billion business a year. It is tough business but it is not a rocket science business.

KLIA handled 650 ton in 2008. Singapore is the leader in ASEAN handling 1.9 million ton in 2008. Now the biggest cargo airport in the world is Hong Kong, handling 3.9 million ton in 2009.

What are the factors to make KLIA a cargo hub for the ASEAN region?

If you look at Hong Kong and Singapore airports, what they have in common is the strong transhipment activities between the airport and feeder sea ports. Local catchment customers could send in their cargoes through these ports and from there the cargoes go to the airports to their final destinations. Hong Kong even have a berthing facility at the airport itself to undertake this service whereas Singapore has its super efficient port few km away. This is important for fresh and live merchandises.

KLIA needs to have strong connection to Port Klang, our biggest port in the country and with easy and fast excess goods may go to the KLIA faster. Though about 50 km apart from Port Klang, this is not a handicap as our the highway system is good. KLIA has also the advantage of lower space cost and labour costs but all these will come to a naught if there is lacking in efficiency and productivity. MAS Kargo and KLAS need to compare their efficiency which include safety and security, and compete against Singapore by providing efficient services, and the SKVE needs to be completed faster so that access to Port Klang will more faster. Of course custom and ground handlers also need to join forces to make the clearance work more faster. In Singapore cargoes can be offloaded in less 30 minutes in a B747 freighter be out of the airport in two hours . Can KLIA do this?

What else can KLIA do? Strong promotion with the worlds business entities especially the semi conductor manufacturers, fresh goods merchandisers and the giant couriers providers such as Fedex, DHL and UPS, the supply chain giants and not forgetting the airlines and air cargo players which provide the transportation. With lower landing, parking and warehousing charges, good tracking and documentation system, plus safe and secured warehousing facilities this would make KLIA a great hub and become the No 1 in ASEAN.

But then again with many players at the airport whose baby is it to make KLIA the top cargo hub? Is it the airlines or the government or airport operator? The airlines (including the courier giants) have their hands full trying to market their services to their clients all over the world. So by logic the role now should be on the shoulder of the airport owner and operator of the airport which is the government ( interest of the success of the airport which will have an overall economic impact to be gained by the nation) and MAHB respectively. Since the government has given MHAB the mandate to manage the airport profitably, it is MAHB major role to promote KLIA as a great hub for cargo. With much relatively cheap airport land under its control, still under oil palm plantation status, MAHB could develop the infrastructure at the airport and manage the services and the same time. I believe MAHB could then gain the tax holiday provided by the government under the aerospace incentive announced in 2009. MAHB taking the lead in making KLIA as great cargo hub would be more focused and effective.