Published: July 13, 2010 MYT 3:58:45 PM

The Low Cost Carrier Terminal(LCCT) in Sepang will be converted into a cargo terminal once the construction of a new terminal for low cost flights is completed in the first quarter of 2012.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said the present LCCT was designed as a temporary airport and would turned into a cargo terminal once a replacement was ready. He said the new LCCT which would boast of 3,660m long runway, would be able to handle a maximum passenger capacity of 30 million people per year.

“It will have parking facilities for 76 aircraft and multi-story parking facility for 6,000 vehicles. An express rail link service will be created to connect the new LCCT and the main terminal of the KL International Airport,” he said adding that all low-costs flight operations would be handled by the new airport.

Once converted into a cargo terminal, the old LCCT will be able to handle 320,335 metric tonnes of cargo per year, increasing the overall cargo capacity of the KLIA to 1.31 million tonnes per year, he said when responding to a question from Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar (BN – Jerantut at the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday.

Kong said the present LCCT became fully operational in 2006 with a passenger capacity of 10 million passengers per year.

The airport’s passenger capacity was increased to 15 million passengers later, and last year it handled a total of 13.1 million passengers, he said.

This article is a verbatim copy of the original article from The Star.