KUALA LUMPUR:Transport Minister Loke Siew Fook has proposed Singapore amend the disputed flight path for the southern-end entry to the airport and withdraw the announcement on the Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach.

The approach, which is due to come in force on Jan 3, will allegedly encroach upon Malaysian airspace.

In a Facebook post last night, he said that if the ILS flight path is allowed, Malaysia cannot build tall buildings in Pasir Gudang, Johor, and the Pasir Gudang Port will be subjected to higher risks and multiple restrictions.

“Previously, the Seletar Airport didn’t use ILS. Pilots can manoeuvre around obstacles and no height regulation is required around the flight path area. But, now, it is compulsory to impose a height restriction for ILS. In this case, the affected area is as big as shown from Pasir Gudang up north to Ayer Tawar (Johor) and almost to Kota Tinggi (also in Johor).

“Our position is clear, we are not against Seletar. But as far as the descending flight path is concerned, it cannot be over Pasir Gudang,” he said in the post.

The post was accompanied by a video clip explaining the reasons why Malaysia is against the ILS, including height buffer for the ILS flight path from Seletar Airport.

According to the video, Point 1 (3 km away from Seletar Airport) cannot be higher than 54 metres, and the maximum height for Point 2 (6 km away) is 145 metres. The airport is merely 2 km from Pasir Gudang.

“This means, even a mobile crane would have breached the height limit. And there are many more tall buildings in Johor,” Loke pointed out.

ILS is a precision runway approach to landing aid that helps aircraft to land even in poor visibility.

On Monday, Malaysia had called for full disclosure over the disputed Seletar Airport flight path.