This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 17, 2025 - March 23, 2025

AirAsia’s impending pullout from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Subang Airport) has dealt an early blow to efforts to turn the Subang hub into a premium city airport. The carrier’s decision, just eight months after it started flying out of the airport, has given rise to questions about whether the government’s move to allow the return of single-aisle jet services out of Subang last year was a wise one.

After all, AirAsia is not the first airline to quit Subang. The now-defunct SKS Airways cancelled its plans to commence jet operations at Subang Airport after it reportedly failed to secure enough slots to make its operations economically viable.

Reasons cited by AirAsia included Subang Airport being too small for the low-cost carrier’s immediate expansion plans. The airport, with a three million annual passenger capacity, also restricts airlines to a limited number of take-offs and landings per day, which prevents them from delivering economies of scale to support their operations. An overnight curfew to minimise noise further limits flight numbers.

AirAsia and SKS Airways were among six airlines granted permission last year to operate limited jet services as part of the Subang Airport Regeneration Plan (SARP). This plan aims to increase the airport’s capacity to five million passengers annually within the next three to four years and up to eight million by 2030. The other airlines involved are Firefly, Batik Air Malaysia, Scoot (Singapore) and TransNusa (Indonesia).

AirAsia’s pullout begs the question about the future of SARP, which has been put on hold as Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd undergoes privatisation. Is there even a need to expand Subang Airport to accommodate more jet services now?

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