If you often travel around Southeast Asia, fate will sooner or later drop you in 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, bearing the name of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, is often simply called "old". It accepts external and domestic flights. But the main air harbor of Malaysia is not one, but three airports located at a distance of several kilometers from each other. True, one of them has hardly been used since 2014. And since acquaintance with Kuala Lumpur for Russian travelers begins with its airports, we will tell you more about them.
History of KLIA
When the hub named after Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah could not cope with the growing passenger traffic, the authorities thought about buildingin the Malaysian capital of the new air harbor. Its construction was treated creatively. Environmental friendliness was put at the forefront, and so new airports were created. Kuala Lumpur has two completely different hubs. The new airport was designed specifically. The slogan of the builders was: "The hub is in the forest, the forest is in the terminal." And indeed, a tired traveler, getting off the plane, immediately plunges into the enchanting world of the Malaysian jungle. The Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, one of the promoters of the idea of metabolists, developed the project. The construction took several years. The international airport, which received the abbreviation KLIA, received its first flight in 1998. It immediately overshadowed the old hub. Now all flights arriving from abroad land at KLIA. Very quickly, Kuala Lumpur Airport came to the forefront in Southeast Asia. At the moment, it ranks thirteenth in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and eighteenth in terms of cargo reception.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport
This Southeast Asia's greatest harbor has three terminals. Two of them, located in the neighborhood, "Main" and "Sattelit", are connected by an automated system for transporting passengers. But the third terminal, for receiving low-cost air carriers, is located three kilometers from the first two. Therefore, it is safe to characterize KLIA hubs as airports. Kuala Lumpur now accepts cheap airlines. Reviews of tourists warn: it will take you about half an hour to get to the low-cost terminal. Therefore, this circumstance should be taken into accountto catch your flight. You need to find out in advance where your plane is arriving or starting from. But if you are traveling with AirAsia, TigerAways or Cebupacific, you will definitely need to get to LCCT - this is the abbreviation for the low-cost terminal. 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 a free train and shuttle bus - at the choice of passengers.
Kuala Lumpur Airport Display
The list of flights that this air harbor accepts will take more than one page. But there are no direct routes from Moscow and other Russian cities to Kuala Lumpur. Will have to fly with transfers. Reviews mention that many tourists arrive in the Malaysian capital aboard Qatar Airways. You can still fly through Kazakhstan (Air Astana). The main air harbor of Malaysia receives flights from all countries of Southeast Asia. If you are interested in budget transportation, then the most profitable is to use the services of the low-cost airline "AirAsia". Tourists also use Kuala Lumpur Airport to travel to the beaches of Thailand, in particular to Phuket (on board the Thai Airways) or to Singapore. The air harbor of Malaysia is also connected with the countries of the Middle East region. You can easily get from here to the UAE, Qatar. Liners arriving from Auckland, Melbourne, Adelaide and Istanbul also land here.
Services at KLIA Main Terminal
Passengers praise all the 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 eateries. Naturally, there are also left-luggage offices and other services. What is interesting is that the airport management provides free Wi-Fi for passengers. Here you can also recharge mobile phones and other gadgets - for this there are special racks with a large selection of connectors. Take luggage upon arrival, go through passport and customs control, exchange money - all this can be done in the main terminal. Malaysian rules require that a visitor be fingerprinted with two index fingers. At the sign of the border guard, you must attach them to the scanner. There is also a lounge area in the Main Terminal - for a fee.
Satellite terminal
If you are flying in from overseas to the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which has a fairly simple layout, you will most likely be taken to the Satellite Lounge. It was in it that the concept of "an air harbor in the forest" was embodied. The tourist information desk in the middle of the terminal and a few cafes, restaurants and toilets on the sides - that's all you can find here. The rest is the lush greenery of the tropics. Do not disregard tourist information, reviews advise. At the counter you can get a free map of the city and even a guidebook in English. And if you don’t haveless than eight hours, you can sign up for a sightseeing tour of the city. To set foot on the land of Malaysia, you need to go through passport control at the Main Terminal. Getting to this building is very easy. You just need to follow the Aerotrain signs. This is a drone train. Reviews advise you to sit in the first carriage to feel the adrenaline rush in the first minutes of your stay in Malaysia. Many tourists spend their time between flights like this - riding back and forth, because no one charges money for the fare.
How to get to the city
We will consider all options. The first - the most expensive and not the fact that the fastest - a taxi. Kuala Lumpur Airport is located fifty kilometers from the city center. Naturally, it is not necessary to count on a budget trip. Reviews of tourists discourage using the services of local private traders. They advise you to contact the Limo taxi call desk. There are several in the main terminal. The most convenient location of one of them is the third floor, baggage claim or exit from the international arrivals hall. You need to tell the employee your destination and ask for "budget car", because the fare also depends on the class of the car. Next, you pay for the fare, and you are given a receipt, which you hand over to the driver of the indicated taxi. The cost of such a trip ranges from seventy to 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 by thosetourists who are not going to leave by train to the province. There are two types of trains from Kuala Lumpur Airport to the city center. The fare in them is the same - thirty-five ringgit. The CLIA-Express train goes to the main station without stops. He arrives at his destination in twenty-eight minutes. These trains run more frequently: every quarter of an hour from five in the morning until half past one at night. "Klia-Transit" differs from "Express" in that it makes three stops along the way: at Salak Tinji, Putrajaya and at Bandar Tasik Selatan. These trains run at intervals of half an hour and reach the 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 cheapest and most acceptable way, especially for those passengers who landed at the low-cost terminal (KLIA2). They do not need to get to the main building of the airport. Perhaps out of interest: the KLIA-Transit train runs between the terminals (it costs two ringgits, the travel 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 in the country. The most convenient operator, judging by the reviews, is Airport Coatch. The ticket costs ten ringgit (18 - in both directions). Buses of this company depart at intervals of half an hour during the day. There is also a night flight - at 3:00. This operator for twenty-fiveringgit provides a service called "Kuala Lumpur Hotel - Airport". That is, the bus picks you up right from the gate of the hotel you specified (if one is located within the city). Tourists leave positive feedback about the Star Shuttle carrier. The buses of this company run around the clock and also pass by Chinatown.
Terminal KLIA2
It opened in 2014 and completely replaced the old LCCT, which is now in a state of liquidation. KLIA2 is famous for being the world's largest terminal for low-cost airlines. Previously, it was not easy to get to the main building of Kuala Lumpur International Airport from LCCT. Now the journey by train will take no more than five minutes. There is an entire bus station on the first floor of this terminal. From here it is easy to go not only to Kuala Lumpur, but also to other cities: Johor Bahru, Malacca, etc.
Airport them. Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah
Earlier, until the end of the last century, it was the main air harbor of Malaysia. But even 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 runway. Malaysia's old air harbor is quite convenient, reviews say. It has 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 the suburbs of Subang. So for those who arrive at the hub with the abbreviation SZB(Kuala Lumpur), no need to think about how to get from the airport to your destination.
From the old hub to the new one
It's different if you consider Kuala Lumpur as a transit point, and you arrive at the hub named after Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, and depart 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 trains "KLIA-Express" or "Transit" will take you to the main international airport. Very confusing, and during peak hours even longer. Therefore, reviews recommend taking a taxi at least to the station.
