From Nasriah Darus

ISTANBUL, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), reputed in the aviation industry for international airport operations, will also focus on managing domestic airports, Chairman Tan Sri Dr Aris Othman said Thursday.

"We don't want to concentrate 100 per cent on international airports all the way. Our domestic airports and our tourism sector are also equally important," he told Malaysian journalists here for the official opening of the new terminal at Istanbul Sabiha Gocken International Airport tomorrow by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

MAHB is part of the consortium awarded the contract to build the terminal.

Other partners of the consortium are GMR Infrastructure Limited of India and Limak Group, a Turkish company that built, manages and operates the Istanbul Sabiha Gocken International Airport.

Deputy Minister of Transport Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, who was present at the press conference, said Malaysia expects to woo 20 million tourists a year.

"We want more tourists to come (to Malaysia). So, we not only need to renovate old airports but also improve air and related services," Aris said.

MAHB currently manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia -- five international, 16 domestic and 18 short take-off and landing ports.

The airport operator is also engaged in projects at the new Hyderabad International Airport and the New Delhi International Airport in India.

Asked on MAHB's next overseas venture, Aris said it will be in the next two to five years.

"We like to be global but we have to balance up between the race and resources available," he said, adding that the company needs more than a year to train people especially in the language and social cultural differences.

"Social and cultural differences are a big factor to consider in overseas operations. Of course, if you wait too long, the advantage you have in being on the forefront in airport operations will be overtaken by other airports involved in the same business," he said.

Aris said MAHB's partners -- GMR and Limak -- wanted the company to join them in other projects but due to its limited capacity, it had to hold on.

He said there had been negotiations between MAHB and other parties on the prospect of managing and operatring airports but after detailed evaluation, MAHB felt it was too risky and called off the talks.

MAHB operated under two business models -- purely consultancy and equity and consultancy -- in overseas ventures, he said.

Aris said the contribution from overseas ventures was very small currently at less than two per cent.

He said MAHB's involvement in overseas ventures is to create awareness in the aviation circle that it was capable of efficiently managing both international and domestic airports and requests for its consultancy services.

To provide its personnel more exposure in airport operations outside Malaysia and to bring in Malaysian companies to participate in airport or terminal construction projects, he added.

MAHB has a 20 per cent stake in the consortium building the estimated 343 million Euro new terminal here which will have the capacity to handle 10 million passengers a year.

Besides being a shareholder in the consortium, MAHB is also engaged in advisory and consultancy services in the airport master plan and detailed design study especially in the operational readiness and airport transfer exercise.

-- BERNAMA