SEPANG (BERNAMA) - By the second half of next year, flight passengers can heave a sigh of relief as there will be no more physical body searches at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and probably at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) too.

Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said this would be made possible with the use of the new and upgraded X-ray machine scanners for passengers, which will be put in place by the Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB).

By the second half of next year, airport security officers will no longer have to conduct physical body searches on flight passengers, he told reporters after officiating at the ground-breaking ceremony for KLIA2 dedicated processing centre at the airport on Friday (Sept 21).

Loke said many people were not comfortable having to undergo a body search at the airport, but such a procedure was part of the security protocols.

"Even as a minister, when I pass through any gate here (at the airport), I have to be body-searched as well. But there will be new machines and new facilities to upgrade the airport service," he said.

On the KLIA2 dedicated processing centre, Loke said crew of all airlines operating at KLIA2 would need only 10 minutes to reach the boarding gates when they can bypass the terminal building after the centre for departing airline crew is completed by mid-2019.

The RM2.7 million (S$890,000) centre, which will be built by MAHB, will have three immigration counters and one customs counter and will be manned by additional resources by the relevant agencies, as well as aviation security officers from MAHB.

Meanwhile, MAHB said in a statement that as at August this year, KLIA had registered 40 million passengers for both terminals with KLIA2 registering 21.3 million passengers, which is a 7.8 per cent increase from the same period last year.