KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has issued a statement to update that the situation at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is "improving", as the systems outage that besieged Malaysia's key airport since Wednesday night nears the second day or 48th-hour mark.

The incident, which began on Wednesday night due to a network failure, has led the network operator to replace its network equipment, which is now being tested and closely monitored for stability, it said in the statement.

“Since the replacement of the network equipment, we have seen positive progress in network stability. Critical systems at KLIA Main Terminal are now mostly up and running. Nevertheless, we have adopted a cautious approach and will remain vigilant as we are still experiencing some intermittent issues.

“KLIA Main Terminal is still experiencing some delays, but the situation is improving due to measures that have been put in place. Credit should go to the whole airport community for rallying together in facing this challenge. We have never seen better cooperation among airlines who are all helping one another so that flight operations can continue. Meanwhile, systems at KLIA’s second terminal, klia2, are generally not affected at present,” said MAHB group chief executive officer, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin.

The airport operator's focus, in the mean time, remains on ensuring the continuous availability of the systems, while it extends assistance to airlines and passengers. It has 1,000 more staff helping passengers on the ground and with the manual sorting of baggage.

"We are also working very closely with the airlines to ensure that bags are delivered to their rightful owners. The additional manpower will remain in place until the situation is back to normal," MAHB's statement read.

It is also managing flights delays and cancellations by using all 38 of its aircraft remote bays, as well as providing additional buses and ground handling services for airlines to facilitate passenger movements at these remote bays. Other airports nationwide will also continue to extend their operating hours in the event that there are delayed departing flights from KUL, said MAHB.

Raja Azmi, in expressing his appreciation of the general public's patience and understanding, said the group "deeply regret[s] the inconvenience that has been caused".

"While the situation is improving, we would still urge passengers to arrive at the terminal at least four hours prior to departure in the next few days,” he added.

Passengers are also urged to continue using their respective airline's mobile apps or websites to check in to avoid long queues at the airport, adding passengers can stay updated through its social media platforms or await the next news release.

MAHB shares closed eight sen or 0.94% higher at RM8.63 today, giving it a market capitalization of RM14.32 billion.