The Transport Ministry has advised the KL International Airport (KLIA) and the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) to make announcements in Tamil beginning Jan 1 during the flights to and from Chennai, India.

lim kit siang parliament pc 201008 kong cho ha Minister Kong Cho Ha (right) said today the passenger volume on the KL-Chennai route was high and almost 90 percent of the passengers better understood Tamil than English.

KLIA and LCCT handled a total of 434,050 passengers to and from Chennai this year, 207,697 outgoing and 226,353 incoming, he said in a statement, adding that they travelled in flights operated by Malaysia Airlines (MAS), AirAsia, Jet Airways and Air India Express.

“As such, the government has acceded to the request by several quarters for announcements in Tamil during the arrival and departure of flights on the KL-Chennai sector,” he said.

He also said that there would be no problem providing announcements in Tamil as Malaysia had a sizeable number of speakers of the Tamil language.

Several people had suggested having announcements in Tamil at the airport, among them Senator S Nallakaruppan and former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department T Murugiah.

- Bernama

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