Hajiji said they discussed improving and upgrading the airport’s services in a meeting at Menara Kinabalu yesterday.

“It is important that KKIA’s facilities and services are upgraded because it is the country’s second busiest airport.

“I hope a collaboration between (Sabah and Putrajaya) can form better policies, identify solutions to current issues, and ensure that the nation’s transport system continues to grow for our mutual benefit,” he said on Facebook.

This came on the back of growing complaints that KKIA’s current site does not have much room for effective expansion.

Senior aviation consultant Faizal Malik had said that despite being the second busiest airport in Malaysia, KKIA is still a single-runway airport, and that Sabah needs an airport with a dual runway to cater to its future growth.

Earlier this month, Hajiji had also dismissed calls to move KKIA away from Sabah’s capital city.

“I believe the current airport can still be used for another seven to 10 years. Of course, in the long term, we would need to move,” Hajiji had told FMT.