Air Travel, Kuala Lumpur

If you are arriving in KL via Air Asia which has some really good bargains from time to time, bear in mind that it arrives and departs from a different airport to the international KLIA.

The airport for Air Asia is LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal). There is no train services from KL LCCT however you can get the bus to the KLIA if you want, or just do like we did and get a taxi into the city.

All the information you need to know about the airports etc can be found on the link below.

Update 2013 - Air Asia will be moving next door to KLIA in May 2013. They will be arriving and departing from KLIA2 which is good news to those that want to avail themselves of the fast train into Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia is a wonderful country and lots of things to do and wonderful people, but their national airline is a disgrace from very many points of view
in 40 years of existence it has never made any profit, because of inefficiency and corruption.
it touts as being a five star airline but it is more like a three star airline on par with Air India
The five star airline is Qatar to which Malaysian airline cannot hold a candle.
MH they proclaim is for malaysian hospitality but on a recent long haul flight, the flight attendants were rude to the point that i was reminded of the worn out flight attendants on USA based airlines. They were rude to passengers who were mainly old retired french people on holidays in malaysia, the food service was brisk and without a smile. no drink service once the food service is over. All in all MH sands for Mediocre Hospitality.
While Air Asia does what is promises and in 10 years they have had profitable years in most, and soon hopefully they will take over the Malaysian airlines and bring in some efficiency and get rid of the corruption.

Kuala Lumpur is the hub for Air Asia, one of the cheaper airlines in Asia. You could fly here from London and Paris but they've decided to suspend that service. Such a shame I got one of the first flights for £180, great value!

If you wish to travel in and out of Kuala Lumpur with low airfare, you have to wait for the right time to book your airfare tickets either from Airasia or Firefly.

I usually book my air ticket in/out of Kuala Lumpur during Airasia O fare promotion period. If you subscribe the Airasia mailing list, they will email you the date you can book the low cost fare. The general rule is the earlier you book your tickets, the cheaper the airfare.

Firefly is a new low cost Airlines from Malaysia Airlines. They have low cost fare occasionally. I am not very good with Firefly. Their advertise fare are not included other cost... etc... so be aware of that...

Of course, Singapore Airlines to get there and Private car to get around.

I flew into KL on Singapore Airlines. It was the best carrier I've ever been on. The seats were comfortable, the attendants were very attentive and the food was exceptional. They offered both Western and Asian dishes that I enjoyed very much.

While in KL I traveled around in a private car with a driver who navigated the roads well and this gave me the opportunity to see much more of the area than I would have if I had to drive myself. Not only that, but the air conditioning in the car was the only absolute relief from the heat and humidity I had during my whole stay.

This picture was taken on the way to the airport.

Just want everyone to be aware that if you are changing flights in KL it can take quite a while to clear immigration as it can get real busy sometimes. Last year there was a huge queue and it took me an hour to get to the front. Also be aware that there is a main terminal and a low cost carrier terminal where the budget airlines are based and it can take 30 minutes (including time waiting for shuttle) to travel between the 2 on the free shuttle.

Don't make the mistake that I did - assuming that all airlines go to and from KL International Airport, because they don't! Thank goodness, I had a good 3 hours before my flight, so I had time to spare going from one airport to the other. Anyway, what is confusing is that they call this airport, LCC Terminal, or Low-Cost Carrier Terminal. I thought all along that this was just a terminal in KLIA -- as it is in most other countries, where they have a separate terminal for the low-cost flights, but still within the same airport. Wrong assumption!

The LCC Terminal is far from KLIA, and it takes 20 minutes by bus from KLIA. The good thing is that there is a bus which goes frequently from KLIA to LCC, and the roads are good, without traffic practically as it is way outside the city center.

Still, it is misleading and confusing -- and the dearth of information about LCC (and how to get there) is something that authorities should look into.

How to arrive in Kuala Lumpur is a bit of a predicament if coming from Singapore. Considering the fact that the KL airport is 70km away from the center it does not make lots of sense to fly unless using AirAsia because of its inexpensive tickets. Once on the ground there are several options but AirAsia’s connections are again the best so you might even consider buying their bus transfer ticket as part of the airplane ticket and thus save same ringgits along the way. There are trains but apparently to get to them one has to board a bus first and then change somewhere down the road which makes it nonsense. The trains are better suited to the main airport terminal, not the low cost one where the base of AirAsia is. In the other direction, reaching the airport from downtown KL, there is the option of going all the way to the airport by taxi as well. The bus or train collection point downtown is KL Central (railway station) and naturally there is a need of a taxi ride to reach it. Despite the many warnings that taxis are metered and beyond any haggling, the magic still happens – the driver would offer a price for a ride all the way to the airport. Once in the comfortable environment of an air-conditioned car one starts to think of this possibility but saying yes as slowly as possible is going to lower the price to a very “competitive” rate – 40USD for 70 km suddenly sounds like a bargain.

4 more images

the terminal two or the Low Cost Carrier Terminal area of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is the base of operation of Air Asia of Tony Fernandes and is the flagship of the famous no frills budget airline and also is the entrance and exit of other budget and low cost airlines like silk air or cebu pacific air or jet star or Tiger Airways and a slew of other carriers. Why low cost terminal? well, it is specifically designed to suit the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) business model where it would have no travellators, escalators, aerobridges and would be able to have a shorter turnaround time. The LCC Terminal operates on a point-to-point travel basis in line with the low-cost travel business model. There is no interlining arrangement between the Low Cost Airlines at the LCC Terminal and other airlines that operate at the Main Terminal Building of KLIA. so this is the terminal of choice of budget no frills airlines so if you want to go to KL on the cheap then book on a budget airline of your choice.

4 more images

Cebu Pacific is one of the low cost carriers in the Southeast Asian Region (they say low cost instead of Budget Airlines, a play on terminology). It was started in 1996 in the Philippines by entreprenuer Lance Gokongwei, a Chinese-Filipino Taipan and is now the number one airline of the philippines, beating the flag carrier Philippine Airlines. The Airline boasts of having one of the youngest Airbus A 319 and A 32-0 fleets in the World at an average age of 4 years. It is one of the comptetitors of Air Asia, Silk Air, Tiger Airways, Jet Star and other budget airlines and as such they dock in the Low Cost Terminal area of KLIA. Book your flight 2 months in advance and it will only costs $ 120 US Dollars (all in) to fly to Kuala Lumpur. As in other Budget carriers, this is a no frills airline where only the rest room are free and even the bottled water you have to pay for.

KUALA LUMPUR Ticket Offices:

Skyzone Tours & Travel SDN BHD
Lot 3.05-08, 3rd Floor, Shaw Parade,
Changkat Thambi Dollah, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel No.: (603) 2118-7888
Fax No.: (603) 2118-7899

Bestour & Travel (M) Sdn Bhd
Lot 3.10 3rd Flr. Wisma Cosway,
Jalan Raja Chulan, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel No.: (603) 2142-1741
Fax No.: (603) 2143-2048

Golden Deluxe Travel Service Agency Sd. Bhd.
10-1 Jalan Khoo Teik Ee,
Off Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel No.: (603) 2144-9888 / 6888
Fax No.: (603) 2142-8631 / 603-2144-424