Disembarking passengers ‘trapped’ on skybridge at KK Airport

KOTA KINABALU: Passengers arriving on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu found themselves unexpectedly “trapped” on the skybridge when the glass door leading into the terminal remained closed.

“We touched down at KKIA (Kota Kinabalu International Airport) at 6.07pm on Wednesday (July 31). As passengers continued to disembark the aircraft, the skybridge quickly filled up. We were basically trapped with no way forward.

“No ground crew was seen in the terminal,” said Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong Wie Kong, who was one of the passengers caught in the situation.

Leong explained that they were stranded for about 10 minutes before one of the passengers returned to the aircraft to alert the cabin crew.

“An officer was later spotted by the door, but he appeared preoccupied with his cell phone. There was no word of apology from him. This incident made us frustrated and angry,” he added.

He said the incident should not have happened in the first place, especially since the estimated time of arrival (ETA) was at 6.05pm.

“I believe the airport authority is aware of the ETA and staff should be at the designated gate to ‘welcome’ arriving passengers.

“Most of the passengers were tourists from South Korea and China, and this incident does not reflect well on our hospitality and professionalism,” he said, adding that the bad experience happened right at the entry point into the state.

Hoping that such incidents will not repeat, he urged airport authority to implement a more efficient mechanism to ensure prompt actions are taken when managing flight arrivals and departures.

“In all my decades of travelling through international airports, this is the first time I’ve experienced something like this,” said Leong.