Malaysia Airports replaces 17 fire vehicles

The engines are fitted with the latest technology, improving safety standards at the sites

Malaysia Airports plans to replace 17 aging fire engines at 13 of its airports nationwide, which will be delivered in four phases over the next two years.

The scheduled replacements are in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) guidelines and will be used by the Airport Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS).

Miri Airport
Photo Wiki Commons/Calflier001

“Airport safety remains paramount, and we continue to enhance our readiness through our top line first responder unit, the AFRS, who specialises in firefighting and rescue services within the aerodrome areas,” said Dato’ Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, group CEO of Malaysia Airports.

“Although we are diligently exercising measures of cost containment within the organisation considering the current COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to prioritise on our important asset replacement projects to ensure that our service standards are not compromised as we anticipate the recovery of air travel.”

According to the company, the new vehicles’ 750 horsepower engines allow the team to reach an incident within three minutes of the initial call.

Surveillance cameras are fitted throughout the fire engine which enable it to detect potential obstructions and locate the source of heat more efficiently with the thermographic imaging sensors.

There is also a centralised management system which is able to check the state of the vehicles in real time in case there are any faults. The team will then be alerted so the situation can be corrected and monitored.

Currently, six of the vehicles have been delivered to Malaysia at Melaka Airport, Kota Bharu, Limbang, Ipoh and Terengganu. Eight other sites are set to receive the fire engines over the next two years.