Flying into fear

I had the distinct privilege of flying into KLIA2 this morning - the shiny new budget carrier terminal at KL International Airport. And what an airport it is! Sure, there's some bits that still aren't complete and there is masking tape still stuck atround some window frames, but it is PRETTY so who the heck cares?

The flight over was relatively uneventful. There were a couple of bouncy parts in the usual places (over Indo, as expected), but I slept most of the 8 hours by taking little power naps. I woke up from the last one just in time to hear the captain say we were 200km from KL, coming in quite ahead of schedule and that we were beginning our descent. I barely had time to pack up my travel pillow and duvet (Air Asia calls them Duvets, by the way, not Doonas like we do in Aussie), put my shoes back on and freshen up a bit. 

On arrival, we were greeted with an air bridge(no more tarmac strolls for ten minutes in the pouring rain) and a flash new empty terminal that seemed to go on forever. It's all white and steel and glass, as is the airport fashion of the last decade. The signage seems half-cut (signs on one side of a light box but not the other) in some places and totally lacking in others, but the carry-on luggage trolleys are too cute for words! The skybridge was pretty cool too - it had fancy bins, lots of plants and good views of the piers where the planes are.

We went up what seemed like the world's longest escalator (matches the ones at Parliament station in Melbourne), walked a bit more, went through immigration, then spent over half an hour waiting for my suitcase. Flipping heck - I thought it was bad at the LCCT but seriously, baggage services here overpromise and under deliver in a big way. And it was almost literally the last bag off the carousel, bar one. 

Once I got my bag, it was off to have it scanned by customs before being let out into the arrivals hall. I collected my thoughts, found Old Town White Coffee, had breakfast and then went for a look around the new Gateway@KLIA2 mall that is connected to the KLIA2 terminal.  I bought a pair of sandals andjumped on the express train to KL Sentral via a stop at KLIA. 

With the recent MH17 and MH370 disasters fresh in my mind, I felt the need to confront my grief and sorrow head on. Yes, I had a bit of a cry at JB Sentral when I saw the wall of condolences back in April, but this time I needed to go to the source. 

I stopped at KLIA - the main airport terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was overcome with sadness. I wandered around the terminal in a trance-like state; viewing the check-in counters where the passengers on board MH370 would have been happy and excited to check in for their flight. I viewed the departure gate where the passengers and crew would have walked through to head for the plane. I visited the arrivals area, where the MH17 families would have been waiting for news of their loved ones. I felt empty, sad and helpless. 

What really upset me was that there was barely any acknowledgement of either flight having ever existed, save for an empty table with banners saying "justice for MH17" and a small scrolling notice on the TV screen in the food court, which said that the MH17 family and friends reception area was at a counter on level 5. Wow. Just wow. 

As a New Zealand Citizen who lives in Australia and travels to Malaysia about twice a year, these two disasters have been a triple whammy. I've grieved for people from three countries, twice. I will say that MAS and Prime Minister Najib have handled MH17 a lot better than MH370, partly because very sadly, MH370 was the road map for how to handle a crisis. Clearly the lessons have been learnt and applied, as the communication has been eleventy billion times better with MH17. 

I know PM Najib cares. I know the Malaysian people care. I know people all over the world care. I know the staff of MAS cares, are deeply saddened and are deeply hurt by these two huge losses. The new transport minister (sorry, I forget his name) is doing a quiet but good job. It does seem as though Malaysia Airports are doing a good job of trying to sweep these two disasters under the rug - this is just my opinion, based on my observations today. 

Tourist numbers are massively down and have been since MH370, but more so since MH17. My own flight over last night was half empty - people seem to be taking their grief and fear out on Malaysia as a destination, which is grossly unfair. The gate lounge of the MAS flight over which left about 40 mins before mine was proof that people are staying away from MAS in droves. There are noticeably less westerners rolling around town. Word on the street is that they don't feel safe travelling here.

Well, all the more Malaysia for me. Malaysia needs us tourists now more than ever. So many people here rely on tourism for an income. Please don't stay away from Malaysia. They need us.