Liew calls for better facilities after passengers stranded on KKIA skybridge

News Date:  August 1, 2024

Media : Borneo Post

KOTA KINABALU (Aug 1): Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew expressed hope for further improvement to the facilities at the Kota Kinabalu Internatonal Airport (KKIA).

“Our Sabah Tourism Board (STB) team is working hard on promoting the state but when the visitors come and facilities at the gateway to the state are not up to par, then it is very regretful and disappointing as far as I am concerned,” she said.

“We have informed MAB on the need to upgrade the airport facilities. As far as we are concerned, we get tourists to come to Sabah but if the airport facilities are not good, it is not good,” she said.

Liew who was met at the launching of STB’s Careline Chatbot here on Thursday, said this when asked to comment about the incident at KKIA where the door for passengers to access the terminal from the skybridge did not open leaving them stranded for about 10 minutes.

Liew said that STB CEO Julinus Jimit immediately contacted MAB when informed of the incident and was told that it had to do with the aircraft and not the airport.

“Maybe was some malfunctioning at the particular time. I was told they managed to get it opened, but these are the things we need to improve from time to time. We do not deny this happened because I know that the video has gone viral.

“These are the things we hope to keep improving on. It is good for Sabah if we can have better facilities at the airport,” she said.

In the incident on Wednesday evening, passengers arriving at KKIA on a flight from Kuala Lumpur found themselves stranded on the skybridge when the glass door leading into the terminal remained closed.

Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong Wie Kong, who was one of the passengers caught in the situation, was quoted as saying that the flight touched down at KKIA at 6.07pm on Wednesday.

“As passengers disembarked the aircraft, the sky bridge quickly filled up and we were basically trapped with no way forward. No ground crew was seen in the terminal,” he said, adding that they were stranded for about 10 minutes before one of the passengers returned to the aircraft to alert the cabin crew and only then was the glass door finally opened.

Meanwhile, Liew was asked on the no plastic bag campaign in the state capital and she said it is a step forward towards a ‘green’ lifestyle for the people.

“It is time that this environmentally friendly approach is put in practice. The earlier we start, the earlier the public will learn and make it part of their lifestyle and adapt to it. Protecting the environment is an issue that we must observe,” she said when asked about the campaign which was launched on Thursday.

“I know initially it will be quite inconvenient for some customers but I know for over a while people will adjust to it because they will learn that this is for their future and their future generations. We need a clean environment,” said Liew.

When asked how the campaign would affect tourists in the state capital, she opined that many tourists come from countries that have banned the use of plastic bags, so it would not affect them too much.

“It’s good that we are implementing it now,” she said.