KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) expects to resolve the systems disruption at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 by tomorrow morning.

As at 8.51pm, the systems at both terminals have not yet been stabilised.

In a statement today, MAHB said it has deployed almost 1,000 staff on the ground to provide all possible assistance to passengers and airlines.

"The team will continue to work round the clock in order to rectify the situation. Among the solutions that are being employed include the replacement of hardware equipment," it said, adding that it will undergo testing of the new equipment tonight.

The disrupted connection has affected several airport systems such as WiFi connection, flight information display system, check-in-counters and baggage handling systems.

In the meantime, passengers can get more information from MAHB's social media feeds and are advised to reach the airport at least four hours before their flight departure time.

Passengers are also encouraged to check-in via the respective airlines’ mobile app or website.

"We will be issuing further updates on the situation either through our social media platforms or news releases," said MAHB.

Some 20 flights from KLIA have reportedly been delayed and the affected flights include those bound for Narita, Japan; Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Jakarta, Indonesia; London in the UK; and Hong Kong.

In their respective websites, Malaysia Airlines Bhd and AirAsia Group Bhd also advised their passengers travelling to check-in via mobile or web, noting that the systems disruption at KLIA are affecting all airlines’ check-in and boarding processes.

Malaysia Airlines said it is processing its check-in services manually.

AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes took to Twitter to notify that its staff will be deployed to manage the situation at klia2, lamenting that even though it is not the airline’s responsibility.

He also commended MAHB chief operating officer Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, who was a former executive at AirAsia, for helping the airline.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Anthony Loke was quoted as saying yesterday that he was unaware of what the root cause of the problem was as he had yet to be given a report on the matter.

He also asked MAHB to provide a clarification to the public on what actually happened.

The technical outage is the first ever major complaint at KLIA since it opened in June 1998. Previous disruption to operations at the international airport was due to power failure, which had resulted in a total blackout of the whole of KLIA and delays in six flights in September 2003.