SEREMBAN: Airbus has agreed to conduct a feasibility study before investing in a flight hub development in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
“Currently the state government has already obtained agreements from AirAsia and Sime Darby Property to collaborate in making the project a reality and confident the hub would benefit the economy of not just the state but also the country” said Dr. Mohamad Rafie Abd Malek, State Investment, and Human Capital Committee Chairman.
The agreement was due to AirAsia’s negotiations with the world’s leading aircraft manufacturing company. The Malaysian low-cost operator recently was in talks with Airbus for 100 Airbus A330neo at Farnborough Airshow.
AirAsia Group CEO, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said that Airbus has agreed to conduct a feasibility study within 18 months. This is to evaluate the progress of the project for the long term in various aspects.
If agree, this will be the Aribus’s fifth Final Assembly Line (FAL) after France, Germany, China and the United States.
The state government and AirAsia will set up a special committee to conduct assessment studies on the proposed aviation hub in Labu. Besides FAL, the state government also planned to set up a maintenance, repair and rehabilitation center (MRO) of a commercial, aircraft, engine and component in the aviation hub.
The basic requirements that Airbus had requested was the appropriate area for aviation hub construction and skilled workers.
He said what was important for Airbus was to provide skilled workers, thus opening up many jobs to the locals.
