On Sunday (Aug 25), airport activities and operations were restored at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after several days of long queues and flight delays caused by a failure of network equipment, affecting businesses and other activities in the country.
A morning check on Sunday revealed passengers going about their business as usual, with smooth check-ins and queue movement. The issue, according to authorities albeit resolved, was not due to a cyber-attack as some would have expected. Also, the flight information display system had also been restored and reflected up-to-date information.
After 4 Days of Technical Disruption, Kuala Lumpur Airport Resumes Operation
In a report shared by Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama, the replacement of the faulty equipment was conducted by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) last Friday to address the problem.
According to a MAHB spokesperson, progress had been noted since the replacement of the equipment however, further monitoring was still needed because of some intermittent issues.
The technical glitch to the Total Airport Management System was identified as the cause of the problem, which resulted in flight delays, long queues and frustrated travelers since last Wednesday (August 28).
Other issues noted were poor Wi-Fi connections, malfunctioning check-in counters, and baggage handling systems.
About 1,000 employees were deployed to assist passengers and to help with manual sorting of baggage.
Commenting on the matter, the National Cyber Security Agency (NaCSA) clarified that there was no evidence of a cyber-attack in the network service disruption. Preliminary findings by the MAHB revealed that the disruption was a result of network equipment failure.
The agency added, “Currently, all efforts are focused on ensuring the full recovery of operations at KLIA and KLIA2. MAHB has taken and will continue to take all necessary measures to expedite the recovery process.”
NACSA will continue to monitor the situation and conduct a further investigation with all related agencies, it said.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Transport Ministry has formed a committee that will investigate the network failure at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Transport Minister Anthony Loke shared that the six-man committee will look into why the Total Airport Management System (TAMS) had caused four days of flight delays, cancellations, and inconvenience to passengers.
And while the system has already been stabilized on Aug. 24, MAHB continues to monitor the situation and system processes to ensure that no issue of this scale would happen again in the near future.
ALSO READ: 10 Tourist Attractions in Malaysia