KUALA LUMPUR: The government will learn and improve from a survey that has ranked Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as the eighth-worst airport in Asia.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke, however, said rankings by surveys should not be considered as being conclusive, as the methodology of the survey was unknown.
He said the government lent more weight in KLIA's position and ranking from the more reputable ranking by Skytrax, an aviation consultancy firm that conducts research and surveys on airlines and airports worldwide.
"Firstly, we take that view as a reference and lesson. Sometimes we can't just take each survey or each view and consider it as the conclusion.
"We take the ranking position of KLIA from the more reputable Skytrax ranking. I think that is more authoritative in terms of airport ranking.
"We can't just take it arbitrarily because nowadays there are many surveys conducted by various parties. Sometimes, how they conduct it, where they get their sources to come to that conclusion, is questionable," he told reporters after a cheque presentation ceremony at the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT).
Loke stressed that the government was not defensive and admitted to weaknesses in KLIA.
He said the government was improving the aerotrain services and baggage claims at the airport to ensure quality service.
"We are not taking a defensive approach. Okay, so there are negative views. We accept them gracefully and take them as a driving force for us to improve," he said.
Last month, Business Financing ranked KLIA as the eighth-worst airport in Asia based on data from airlinequality.com that takes the average ratings from business travellers to rank airports globally by continent and country.
KLIA shares the same average score (3.36) as the United Arab Emirates' Dubai International Airport.
According to airlinequality.com, travellers often complain about KLIA's poor airport design which leads to long queues, having to take a long walk to reach the terminals, and the lack of good and comfortable facilities.
Travellers also criticised the inefficient Immigration clearance system which causes a longer queue. The dim lighting in the whole airport also lends a poor ambience.