Malaysian Airports to develop Subang venue - Oct 00

By Ben Moore KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian Airports Berhad (MAB) is developing the former Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport at Subang into a RM1billion (US$260million) exhibition and convention centre. The former Terminal One building complex at Subang will be demolished to make way for the construction of a 100,000sqm National Exhibition and Convention Centre (NECC). Completion is scheduled for the end of 2002. Once open the NECC will offer runway access for aircraft up to Boeing 747, with a dedicated taxiway leading directly to the exhibition hall. Further plans for auxiliary facilities include a five-star on-site hotel and a 5,000-space car park. Public transport connections will also be upgraded, including extensions to the light rail transit and the railway link systems to Kuala Lumpur's city centre. The redevelopment is part of the Malaysian government's blueprint to develop the site into an International Aviation and Aerospace Park. The Subang site, which has now been superseded by the RM11.4billion Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), will continue to be used extensively by local Malaysian domestic and charter traffic. "The commissioning of the KLIA provided us with a valuable opportunity of redeveloping the Subang Airport area, while maintaining some of its existing infrastructure," said MAB business development manager Mr Raja Ridzwa Aziz. "The NECC will be used to showcase Malay-sia and its industries to the world, to promote Malaysia as the prime destination for exhibition and convention events. "It is also to spur economic activities in the tourism and conference and incentive-related industries."