KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 2): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has spent RM14 million on repair works on the apron of klia2 since May last year, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

"It has been clarified that the cracks have only occurred in the areas where the apron is located and not on the runway of klia2 that was a result of differential settlement," he told parliament when replying to a question by Petaling Jaya MP Hee Loy Sian.

Hee had asked on the number of locations where the cracks had surfaced and the costs involved repairing them.

Liow also said the affected area covers some 23,900 square meters out of the apron area measuring 700,000 sq m. That worked out to about 3% of the apron at klia2.

On a separate matter, Liow also told parliament that the feasibility study to build a new airport for Kedah state will be completed in November this year.

Liow was replying to a question posed by Sik MP Dr Mansor Abd Rahman yesterday on the Transport Ministry's stand on the proposed new international airport in Kedah.

Liow also said that the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) has started the process of hiring a consultant to conduct the study that is due to be completed within six months.

To recap, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir had on June 12 said that Kedah was set to have a new international airport that would boost economic growth in the northern region.

Kedah now has two airports, namely the Sultan Abdul Halim Airport and the Langkawi International Airport.

“We had a presentation for the National Economic Advisory Council on Sept 8 that was chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The conclusion of the meeting is that a full feasibility study would be conducted by EPU.

“We are hoping it will be done soon [so we can] proceed with the next step. I sensed that there were more positive indications than negative [towards the new international airport],” Mukhriz had told reporters then.