Southeast Asia's largest airport deploys sniffer dog units to tighten security

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Southeast Asia's largest airport by land area, has begun deploying sniffer dogs at key locations across its terminals this week to strengthen security.

The sniffer dog units will operate in departure and arrival halls, as well as baggage-sorting facilities.

Malaysia Airports, which manages the airport, said that the initiative would strengthen security in both passenger areas and airport operational zones, complementing existing security measures, The Star newspaper reported.

The sniffer dogs will be stationed at check-in areas to help detect prohibited items early and identify potential security threats linked to targeted flights, New Straits Times reported.

They will also patrol customs inspection areas to help uncover banned items, narcotics and smuggled goods, Malaysia Airports said.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport handled about 4.9 million passenger movements in September.

The airport added new international connections during the month, with Vietnam's newest carrier Sun PhuQuoc Airways launching flights from Phu Quoc to Kuala Lumpur on Sept. 1, followed by Gulf Air's debut of direct services from Bahrain on Sept. 30.

Passenger satisfaction at the airport stood at 98.8% at Terminal 1 and 99.4% at Terminal 2 in September.

Passenger processing remained efficient, with virtually all security screening queues at both terminals cleared within 10 minutes.