KLIA2 not passenger-friendly?

Not having been a passenger traveller at KLIA2 myself, I can only comment as someone who had been sending off or receiving travellers at the so-called low cost airport.


There is a difference between KLIA and KLIA2: the car parks of the former is separate from the Arrival and Departure areas. The entrances to Car Park A and B are just next to the entrance of KLIA2. But what appears to be proximity can be misleading as the chances are that those parking spaces nearest to the entrance would be taken up by those who know the place well and you end up having to walk a long distance from your car. As a comparison, though the car park entrances of KLIA are at a distance away from the airport building, if you can find a space at Level 2, you are already at the same level as the ambulators which take you to the escalators/lifts to the Arrival and Departure lounges. If you drive a 4WD vehicle, then you are entitled to park at a special area (just outside the entrance of Level 2) with a security guard who records your vehicle details and time you came and left (because of past thefts of such vehicles).


While KLIA seems to place emphasis on being passenger-friendly, KLIA2's design includes a shopping mall as well, but at the expense of the passengers. Instead of the shopping mall serving those who wish to shop, passengers have no choice but to go through many shops before they reach the arrival/departure areas.


As for the additional problems faced by passengers, the following letter from Mohamed Ghouse Nasuruddin to The Star explains:


'IT is rather perplexing when one considers the design of KLIA 2 Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang.


It departs from the conventional concept of an airport where the priority is convenience and comfort of passengers from the point of entering the airport, checking in and clearing security and immigration, and boarding the plane by the shortest possible route.'


'But the KLIA 2 designers had a different concept in mind. They tried to combine a mall, a street thoroughfare and an airport all in one. As a result, the basic function of an airport, that is to get passengers to the departure gate with the least hassle, was compromised.


Spatial utilisation to accommodate the other two functions caused further confusion, as the passengers have to go through a maze to check in and to negotiate alleys and corridors to get to the departure gates.


Signages are small and in subdued colours. They have to compete with the large bright neon advertising lights of the retail outlets and the eateries. As a result, first-time and even returning passengers find great difficulty in getting proper directions.


Arriving passengers have to negotiate three tiers of ramps from the aerobridge to the concourse.


Then they have to walk some distance before climbing up and down escalators and jostle through corridors before finding the immigration and Customs clearance checkpoints.


After that, another long walk to the baggage claim area where mayhem reigns as passengers and their trolleys wait to claim their bags at the congested space between the carousels.


Passengers have to endure a long wait before retrieving their luggage and then another walk through the shopping area to the pick-up area. There seems to be a systemic failure in guiding the passengers from disembarking to the pick-up point.'


More:

http://www.thestar.com.my/Opinion/Letters/2014/12/20/Poor-thought-to-KLIA2-design/



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