The inauguration of the airport was marked with problems.
Aerobridge and bay allocation systems broke down, queues built up throughout the airport and baggage handling broke down.
Bags were lost and there were waits of over five hours.
Most of these issues were remedied eventually, though baggage handling system was plagued with problems until it was put up for a complete replacement tender in 2007.

The airport suffered greatly reduced traffic with the general reduction in economic activity brought about by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, SARS, bird flu epidemic (Avian flu), the financial crisis of 2007–2008, and the swine flu pandemic.
1998 saw a reduction of passenger numbers as some airlines, including All Nippon Airways (resumed on 1 September 2015), British Airways (reinstated on 28 May 2015), Lufthansa (resumed between 28 March 2004 until 28 February 2016) and Northwest Airlines, terminated their loss-making services to KLIA.
KLIA's first full year of operations in 1999, in its Phase One manifestation (capacity of 25 million passengers per year), saw only 13.2 million passengers.
Passenger numbers eventually increased to 21.1 million in 2004 and 47 million in 2013 — though short of the originally estimated 25 million passengers per year by 2003.
The inauguration of the airport was marked with problems. Aerobridge and bay allocation systems broke down, queues built up throughout the airport and baggage handling broke down. Bags were lost and there were waits of over five hours. Most of these issues were remedied eventually, though baggage handling system was plagued with problems until it was put up for a complete replacement tender in 2007.
The airport suffered greatly reduced traffic with the general reduction in economic activity brought about by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, SARS, bird flu epidemic (Avian flu), the financial crisis of 2007–2008, and the swine flu pandemic. 1998 saw a reduction of passenger numbers as some airlines, including All Nippon Airways (resumed on 1 September 2015), British Airways (reinstated on 28 May 2015), Lufthansa (resumed between 28 March 2004 until 28 February 2016) and Northwest Airlines, terminated their loss-making services to KLIA. KLIA's first full year of operations in 1999, in its Phase One manifestation (capacity of 25 million passengers per year), saw only 13.2 million passengers. Passenger numbers eventually increased to 21.1 million in 2004 and 47 million in 2013 — though short of the originally estimated 25 million passengers per year by 2003.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport