State Transport, Project Rehabilitation and International Trade Committee chairman Datuk Lim Ban Hong said the runway will be extended to 2,500m without the need for land acquisitions while the work is expected to be completed in a short span of time.
“There will also be various other passenger handling facilities apart from parking lots made available to make the airport more convenient,” he said at the Chinese New Year open house at Pay Fong Middle School here recently.
The open house was attended by Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron, local community leaders and over 5,000 people.
Malacca government also gave away RM150,000 in monetary aid to 15 charity organisations here as Chinese New Year ang pow during the event.
Lim said currently talks were in progress to have another direct flight from Hainan, China apart from the present Guangdong route.
“We are looking for more destinations between cities in China and Indonesia to LTAM before wooing other countries.
“For the domestic sector, the Kota Baru route will be reactivated apart from identifying new routes within the country,” he said.
Lim said the government was also working to promote medical tourism where LTAM could function as the main entry point for the sector.
Currently, LTAM is mainly used for training purposes with one leading flying school in the country fully utilising the site as the major flight academy in the country.
The airport has two parking bays for bigger aircraft, arrival hall, departure hall and six passenger registration counters.
Lim said once the runway was extended, Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-800 could also use LTAM.
On Sept 28 last year, LTAM saw the Airbus A319 from China touch down here and this gave stakeholders new hope to turn the airport into a regional service hub.
The arrival of the maiden flight from Guangzhou, China operated by China Southern Airlines was also seen as a precursor for other airlines to operate from LTAM.