New KLIA Aerotrain Disrupted After July 2025 Relaunch

The newly relaunched KLIA Aerotrain has already suffered disruptions on 2 July 2025 and 4 July 2025, just one day after its highly anticipated more-than-2-year return to service on 1 July 2025, leaving passengers facing delays and raising fresh concerns about reliability at Malaysia’s main international gateway.

Please continue reading the article below for the list of known disruptions/incidences:

• KLIA Aerotrain Disruption on 2 July 2025 – doors jammed due to a group of passengers holding them open for an extended period of time.
• KLIA Aerotrain Disruption 1 on 4 July 2025 – heavy rainfall led to water accumulating in the tunnel that connects the main terminal with the satellite terminal.
• KLIA Aerotrain Disruption 2 on 4 July 2025 – doors not being able to close.
• KLIA Aerotrain Disruption on 12 July 2025 – breaker trip at the MTB substation

Cover image from Ahmad Ramadzan Soid.

KLIA Aerotrain Disruption on 2 July 2025

A photo posted on Facebook by user Ahmad Ramadzan Soid on 2 July 2025 at 5.17pm showed airport staff inspecting the doors of a stationary train at the Arrival Platform in KLIA Terminal 1’s Satellite Building.

The incident occurred just around 31 hours after the Aerotrain officially resumed operations on 1 July 2025 at 10am, following a RM456 million overhaul and nearly two and a half years of suspension due to frequent breakdowns and ageing infrastructure. The relaunch was celebrated as a milestone, with officials promising improved reliability and comfort for the more than 100,000 daily passengers who rely on the service for transfers between the main terminal and the satellite building.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was among those who rode the Aerotrain on 1 July 2025 during a walkabout at KLIA Terminal 1 with an entourage that included Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) had announced that two trains would operate concurrently during peak hours, with a third on standby to ensure redundancy and minimise disruptions. However, following the breakdown on the live track, only one Aerotrain and track remained in service, effectively halving the frequency and causing longer waits for passengers travelling to and from the satellite building.

The new Aerotrain system, featuring Alstom Innovia APM 300R driverless trainsets, was touted for its advanced condition monitoring and safety features, designed specifically to prevent such incidents. Despite extensive testing and assurances from authorities, the early setback has sparked frustration among travellers and renewed scrutiny of KLIA’s efforts to modernise its critical infrastructure.

MAHB has maintained the shuttle bus service as a backup, which continues to operate alongside the Aerotrain to ensure passenger movement is not completely halted during technical issues.

KLIA Aerotrain Disruption 1 on 4 July 2025

The Aerotrain was disrupted again on 4 July 2025, fully reverting to the shuttle bus service. A photo posted on Facebook by user Ashish Kale on 4 July 2025 at 11.26am in the Malaysia Airlines Facebook fan group, along with his comments, described his experience getting to the gate by being redirected to the shuttle bus waiting area.

Places And Foods had also spotted an idling Aerotrain at the Main Terminal Building with passengers walking past the empty Aerotrain to the escalator down to the shuttle bus lobby on 4 July 2025 at 1.22pm.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) has clarified in a statement via Free Malaysia Today that the 4 July 2025 incident was not a breakdown but a temporary suspension caused by weather.

On 4 July 2025, at around 11am, the KLIA Aerotrain service was suspended when heavy rainfall led to water accumulating in the tunnel that connects the main terminal with the satellite terminal. According to MAHB, the tunnel’s drainage system is equipped with pumps to handle such situations, but one of the pumps failed to activate automatically during the downpour. As a result, water built up on the tracks, prompting a safety-driven halt to train operations.

Technical teams were immediately deployed to manually clear the water, and the tracks were inspected to ensure passenger safety. The Aerotrain service resumed at 12.15pm, once the route was confirmed safe by engineers and technical staff.

It should be noted that Places And Foods took his photos at 1.22pm – 67 minutes after MAHB claims that Aerotrain services had resumed.

KLIA Aerotrain Disruption 2 on 4 July 2025

The Aerotrain was disrupted again on 4 July 2025. A photo posted on Facebook by user BangChik Life on 5 July 2025 at 4.01am described his experience on board the Aerotrain with the doors not being able to be opened and closed, with the platform screen doors remaining closed. His late posting was due to being afraid of being held up on the plane if he had wrote a review, but he believes that he can now write anything now that he has arrived at Jeddah.

The pictures he has attached clearly shows the Aerotrain’s dynamic route map display showing a message in Bahasa Malaysia with an incomplete sentence saying “mengalami gangguan sementara” or “experiencing temporary disruption”.

KLIA Aerotrain Disruption on 12 July 2025

One of the newly relaunched Aerotrains travelling from the Main Terminal Building (MTB) to the Satellite Terminal stopped short of the platform due to a breaker trip at the MTB’s substation. As a result, passengers were detrained through the train doors and guided to the Satellite Terminal by airport staff. According to The Star, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has apologised for the inconvenience and is currently investigating the cause of the incident with the train’s contractor, Alstom.