If you travel frequently in Southeast Asia, fate will sooner or later throw you at its airports. Kuala Lumpur - one of them - is the most important air harbor of the entire region. It has international status, and in this article we will devote special attention to it. The second airport, named after Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, is often called simply "old." It accepts domestic and foreign flights. But the main air harbor of Malaysia is not one, but three whole airports located from each other at a distance of several kilometers. True, one of them has hardly been used since 2014. And since acquaintance with Kuala Lumpur for Russian travelers begins at its airports, we will tell you more about them.
History of KLIA
When the hub named after Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah ceased to cope with the growing passenger flow, the authorities thought about building a new air harbor in the capital of Malaysia. Its construction was treated creatively. Environmental friendliness was paramount, and so new airports were created. Kuala Lumpur has two completely different hubs. The new airport was specifically designed. The slogan of the builders was: "The hub is in the forest, the forest is in the terminal." Indeed, a tired traveler, stepping off the plane, immediately plunges into the enchanting world of the jungle of Malaysia. The project was developed by the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, one of the ascetics of the idea of metabolists. The construction took several years. The international airport, which received the abbreviation KLIA, took its first flight in 1998. He immediately overshadowed the old hub. Now all flights arriving from abroad are landing at KLIA. Very quickly, Kuala Lumpur Airport reached the first position in Southeast Asia. At the moment, it occupies the thirteenth place in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the eighteenth in terms of cargo reception.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport
This greatest harbor of Southeast Asia consists of three terminals. Two of them, located next door, Maine and Sattelit, are connected by an automated passenger transportation system. But the third terminal, for receiving low-cost carriers, is three kilometers from the first two. Therefore, we can confidently characterize KLIA hubs as airports. Kuala Lumpur now also accepts low-cost airlines. Reviews of tourists warn: to get to the low-cost terminal, you need about half an hour. Therefore, this circumstance should be taken into account in order to catch your flight. You need to know in advance where your plane arrives or where it starts from. But if you are traveling with AirAsia, TigerAevays or Zebupacific, you will definitely need to get to LCCT - such an abbreviation is the terminal for low-cost. But if you need Main and Satellite, then there will be no problems with achieving the goal. Both terminals are in close proximity to each other. In addition, they are connected by free train and shuttle bus - the choice of passengers.
Scoreboard of airport Kuala Lumpur
The list of flights that this air harbor takes will take more than one page. But there are no direct routes from Moscow and other Russian cities to Kuala Lumpur. Driving to fly with transfers. Reviews mention that many tourists arrive in the capital of Malaysia aboard Qatar Airways. You can still fly through Kazakhstan (Air Astana). Malaysia's main air harbor receives flights from all countries of Southeast Asia. If you are interested in low-cost transportation, then it is most advantageous to use the services of the Airfire low-bonfire. Tourists also use the Kuala Lumpur airport for trips to the beaches of Thailand, in particular to the island of Phuket (aboard ThaiAirways) or to Singapore. Malaysia's air harbor is also linked to countries in the Middle East region. No problem, you can get from here to the UAE, Qatar. Landing ships from Auckland, Melbourne, Adelaide and Istanbul also land here.
Services at the KLIA Main Terminal
Passengers praise all new airports. Kuala Lumpur has benefited from their construction - they are very beautiful and functional. In the Main terminal you will find duty-free shops, ATMs, cafes and snack bars. Naturally, there are luggage rooms and other services here. What is interesting is that the airport management provides free Wi-Fi for passengers. Here you can also recharge mobile phones and other gadgets - there are special racks for this with a large selection of connectors. Take luggage upon arrival, pass passport and customs control, exchange money - all this can be done in the main terminal. The rules of Malaysia require you to take a fingerprint of two index fingers. By the sign of the border guard, it is necessary to attach them to the scanner. There is also a lounge area in the Main Terminal - for a fee.
Satellite terminal
If you fly from abroad to the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the layout of which is quite simple, you will most likely be delivered to the satellite room. It was in him that the concept of “an air harbor in the forest” was realized. A tourist information desk in the middle of the terminal and several cafes, restaurants and toilets on the sides - that’s all you can find here. The rest is lush greenery of the tropics. Do not disregard tourist information, advise reviews. At the reception you can get a free map of the city and even a guide in English. And if you have at least eight hours between connecting flights, you can sign up for a city tour. To set foot on the land of Malaysia, you need to go through passport control in the Main Terminal. Getting to this building is very easy. You just need to follow the Aerotrain signs. This is a drone train. Reviews are advised to board the first car in order to feel the adrenaline rush in the first minutes of their stay in Malaysia. Many tourists spend their time between flights this way - going back and forth, because no one charges money for the fare.
How to get to the city
We will consider all options. The first is the most expensive and not the fact that fast is a taxi. Kuala Lumpur Airport is fifty kilometers from the city center. Naturally, you can’t count on a budget trip. Reviews of tourists discourage the use of local private owners. They advise contacting the Limo taxi taxi call desk. There are several of them in the main terminal. The most convenient location of one of them is the third floor, baggage claim or exit from the arrivals hall of international flights. You need to tell the employee the destination and ask for a “budget car”, because the fare depends on the class of the car. Then you pay the fare, and you are given a receipt, which you hand in to the driver of the specified taxi. The cost of such a trip ranges from seventy-one hundred ringgit.
How to get to the train station
A feature of the capital of Malaysia is that its railway station is located almost in the center of the city. And this circumstance should be taken into account even for those tourists who are not going to leave by train to the province. From Kuala Lumpur Airport, two types of trains travel to the center. The fare in them is the same - thirty-five ringgit. The KLIA-Express train goes to the main station without stops. He arrives at his destination in twenty-eight minutes. These trains run more often: in a quarter of an hour from five in the morning until half past twelve. KLIA-Transit differs from Express in that it makes three stops along the way: to Salak Tinji, Putrajaya and Bandar Tasik Selatan. These trains follow at half-hour intervals and get to Kuala Lumpur Station in thirty-five minutes. There is no significant difference with Express. Trains depart from the first floor of the airport. The ticket is bought at the counter before boarding the train.
To Kuala Lumpur by bus
This is perhaps the most inexpensive and most acceptable way, especially for those passengers who have landed in the terminal for low-fires (KLIA2). They do not need to get to the main airport building. Except for interest: the KLIA-Transit train runs between the terminals (there are two ringgits, the journey time is five minutes). There are several bus companies that carry passengers from the airport to the capital of Malaysia and even to other cities of the country. The most convenient operator, judging by the reviews, is Airport Coatch. A ticket costs ten ringgit (18 - in both directions). Buses of this company depart at intervals of half an hour in the afternoon. There is also a night flight - at 3:00. This twenty-five ringgit operator provides a service called Kuala Lumpur Hotel - Airport. That is, the bus takes you directly from the gate of the hotel you indicated (if one is located within the city). Tourists leave positive feedback about the Star Shuttle carrier. Buses of this company run around the clock and also pass by Chinatown.
KLIA2 terminal
It opened in 2014 and completely replaced the old LCCT, which is now in a state of liquidation. KLIA2 is famous for being the largest terminal in the world for receiving low-cost airlines. It used to be hard to get to the main building of Kuala Lumpur International Airport from the LCCT. Now the journey by train will take no more than five minutes. On the ground floor of this terminal there is a whole bus station. It is easy to leave from here not only to Kuala Lumpur, but also to other cities: Johor Bahru, Malacca, etc.
Airport them. Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah
Previously, until the end of the last century, it was the main air harbor of Malaysia. But now it has the status of an international airport. Liners from Almaty, Tashkent, Delhi, Dubai, Guangzhou, Canberra, Melbourne and other cities of the world regularly land on the landing strip. Malaysia's old air harbor is quite convenient, reviews say. Here is the entire standard set of services required for a hub with international status. One of the advantages of the air harbor is its proximity to Kuala Lumpur. It is located in a suburb of Subang. So those who arrive at the hub with the abbreviation SZB (Kuala Lumpur) do not have to think about how to get from the airport to their destination.
From the old hub to the new
Another thing is if you consider Kuala Lumpur as a transit point, and you arrive at the hub of the name of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, and fly away from KLIA. How to get to Kuala Lumpur Airport from the old air harbor? To do this, go to complex A and take bus number 9, get off at the Pasar Seni stop, change route to 2309 and get to the main railway station. And there already KLIA-Express or Transit trains will deliver you to the main international airport. It is very confusing, and during rush hours it is also a long time. Therefore, reviews recommend taking a taxi at least to the station.