KLIA's Aerotrain Breakdown Causes Frustration Among Passengers, Delay In Flights

Both Aerotrains at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) were not operating due to "a small problem", leaving airline passengers anxiously waiting to be transported to the airport's satellite building.

"There is a small problem with our Aerotrains which our technicians are trying to fix. But in the meantime we are providing bus transportation to the terminals," said a representative from KLIA. "A bus will arrive every 15 to 20 minutes to transport passengers to the terminals. We will try fix the problem with the Aerotrains as soon as possible, but we would like to recommend passengers arrive at KLIA three hours before their flight," she said.

nst.com.my

Meanwhile, anxious passengers started getting restless waiting to board the shuttle bus to transport them from the main terminal to the satellite building, which would usually be served by the Aerotrains.

"There is a huge bottleneck, and people are pushing and shoving, despite there being several families with young children in the area," said YL Chong, who was catching a flight to London. "We also had to clear the way for Korean Air passengers, airline crew and a minister earlier," he said.

nst.com.my

Chong, who was catching a flight to London, was initially worried he would not make his flight and said he was stuck in the terminal building for 45 minutes before boarding the bus. Chong managed reach the boarding gate in time, only to learn that the flight was delayed as many passengers had yet to board the plane.

"The pilot announced three minutes before scheduled take-off that about 60 passengers were still 'missing' due to the Aerotrain breakdown," he said. Chong informed the pilot of the plane later informed passengers that the flight was ready for take-off, 25 minutes after the scheduled take-off time.

nst.com.my

It is understood that both trains were undergoing maintenance. Passengers using the terminal today were also advised to arrive three hours before their scheduled flights to avoid inconvenience.

nst.com.my

"It's a shame that KLIA's contingency plan when the Aerotain malfunctions is having only two buses to ferry nearly 1000 people," tweeted @AthinaMcGruff.

User @MrMarZuki tweeted that he has been stranded for nearly two hours waiting to board the bus. "Nothing says welcome back to Malaysia like traffic gridlock at KLIA. Both shuttle trains down and only four shuttle buses available," tweeted @stef_c85.