Iskandar Mizal: We certainly hope that the new operating agreement will be able to provide us with an upside to our shareholders.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 2): Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has indicated that the revision of the operating agreement (OA) as well as the land lease agreement that it is currently negotiating with the government is in the final stage to be concluded.

“We are at the very end of finalising [the agreements], not only the OA, but also the land lease [agreement]. As soon as we get that, we will be able to publish it out to the public,” said MAHB managing director Datuk Iskandar Mizal Mahmood at a virtual press conference after the annual general meeting.

“We certainly hope that the new OA will be able to provide us with an upside to our shareholders,” he added.

The current OA allows MAHB to run the 39 airports including Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 in Sepang until 2069.

Previously, an analyst said the new OA could be a structural rerating catalyst for MAHB, as the airport operator would benefit from an increase in aeronautical tariffs.

“Another positive is with respect to the KLIA Aeropolis, which is the 8,500-acre land area surrounding KLIA and klia2. MAHB has already negotiated the terms of the new development agreement and land lease agreement (DA-LA) that will permit future development of the aeropolis to be on 99-year lease terms commencing from the date of the development, rather than to be constrained by the end of the current concession agreement in 2069F,” a CGS-CIMB analyst said in a note dated Jan 19, 2022.