Malaysia's low-cost aviation hub will begin operations on March 23, just three days ahead of rival Singapore's budget terminal, to become Southeast Asia's first dedicated no-frills terminal.

Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy said the low-cost carrier (LCC) terminal at the futuristic Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) will be soft-launched on March 9.

Chan said he expects more low cost carriers to operate at the terminal in future. Malaysia's own AirAsia is currently the only budget airline that has confirmed it will operate from the new facility.

"We welcome other low cost carriers to operate here. At the moment, we have received a few responses from other low cost carriers," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency, without revealing the airline companies.

No other details were given.

Five million passengers

The Singapore terminal at Changi Airport, which has already been completed, is scheduled to be operational on March 26.

Malaysia's government hopes the new facility will help turn KLIA into a regional aviation hub, attracting at least five million passengers in its first year of business.

AirAsia began operations at Subang airport near Kuala Lumpur but moved to KLIA, about 50 km south of the capital, in July 2002 in line with the government's plan to make KLIA the main gateway for Malaysia.

The airline, which dominates the crowded Southeast Asian low-cost sector, wants to ride the travel boom not only in its home region of half-a-billion people, but also in the emerging China and India markets.