There are no cracks but just depressions on the taxiway, apron and aircraft bay of the KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2), says Civil Aviation Department (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.

He also questioned the authenticity of the picture displayed yesterday by an online portal showing cracks on the taxiway.

“It is not the latest picture and overall, the KLIA2 is safe,” he told a press conference in Sepang today.

“We have had talks with Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and they will rectify whatever is necessary before the airport begins operations,” he said.

For the apron which consist of 68 gates, he said MAHB and its contractors were now undertaking the overlay to resolve depression areas which caused the cracks.

“However, the cracks are just superficial, they are not structural so there is no safety concerns here,” he said, adding that the overlay would be levelled in stages.

He also said rectification work would be completed about a month before the opening of KLI2, scheduled for May 2.

“During a recent inspection, a simulation exercise was carried out to test if the aircraft apron and bays could withstand heavy loads and they met our requirement for even bigger aircraft,” he added.

Azharuddin said the DCA would continue to engage closely with MAHB as the runways would be inspected again to ensure the markings are legible.

“As for the runways, we inspected them yesterday and there were no cracks or major defects and we are satisfied,” he added.

Azharuddin also said final inspection would be carried out on March 5 and calibration of flight instruments landing systems and, all navigation aids would be carried out from March 3-7.

- Bernama