Kedah government is targeting the first flight of Kulim International Airport (KXP) expected to be completed by January 2024.

Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said the land acquisition for the 3,982 hectares (9,841 acres) was completed and the landowners were also identified.

According to him, the process for groundbreaking work is expected to start next November.

"We have included (the land) under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1960, which we have blocked any kind of transaction in the area.

“The boundaries have also been identified and we have identified who owns the land.

"At a certain date, we will begin negotiations with the landowner, usually beginning with a valuation already made by the Department of Valuation and Property Services (JPPH)," he told a press conference after seeing the signing ceremony between KXP Holdings and the Aeroport de Paris Ingenierie ( ADPI) at Wisma Darul Aman here today.

Mukhriz said ADPI was selected by him as a consultant for the Kedah Aerotropolis master plan after the company successfully surpassed the filters made to 28 companies for the past four months.

In the meantime, he said, to avoid any problems in the future, the state government would take care of land acquisition for the purpose of KXP development.

"So let the state government do (land acquisition) through KXP AirportCity. We also have the support of the Federal Government to provide a sufficient amount of money for land acquisition purposes.

"This will ease our burden and when the private investment (investment) comes in, then a refund will be made to the Federal Government for the land upfront," he said.