By Desiree Kaur
The Butterfly Effect by Malaysia Airports is a service provided for individuals with hidden disabilities who are either departing from or arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). My family and I, recently had the opportunity to experience this service, first hand. Our son is almost 8-years old, he has autism and had not travelled overseas or by plane before this trip. The Butterfly Effect at KLIA, paved the way for us to have a pleasant trip.
This article will share with readers our experience and how to go about getting this service at KLIA (Terminals 1 and 2) which are FREE, for people with hidden disabilities.
Register online ahead of your trip
Firstly, I would recommend registering the details of the person who requires assistance, ahead of time. The registration portal is here. Once you register, you might not get any notification, but rest assured, they probably received all your information. The same link can be used to provide details for both departures and arrivals.
You will need to show proof of the hidden disability either with the OKU card or a Dr’s letter with the diagnosis (even a letter from a General Practitioner or GP will suffice). They will take a photo / make copy of it for their reference. This is important so that the service provided isn’t abused. So, be sure to have your documents handy.
What if you don’t register online? Not to worry, you can do directly to the counters with proof of the hidden disability and still enjoy this free service. Whether you register or not, this is where you get your Butterfly Kits from. For departures from KL:
Airport CARE InfoCentre located at Level 5, Main Terminal Building, Terminal 1
Airport Information Counter located at Level 3, Terminal 2
For arriving passenger, proceed to Information Counter located near the Aerotrain stations at the Contact Pier.
Here is what the Butterfly Kit looks like! The lanyard is intended for the person who requires the service. However, if he / she does not like wearing lanyards, the caregiver may wear it on their behalf.
What next?
Once we registered at the counter on Level 5 (Departure Hall of KLIA Terminal 1), we were escorted by CARE Ambassadors to check-in our luggage for our flight. We were brought to a lane with the least amount of people in line to check in our luggage. This helped get us off to a great start, as the regular lines were extremely long.
Next, the CARE Ambassador escorted us to Immigration. For Malaysians, we are always encouraged to use the auto-gate as it is quick and hassle free. However, this can prove quite challenging for children, and perhaps even more challenging for a child with autism. So, we were brought to the lane (again with the least people in queue) for Immigration personnel to manually check and verify our travel documents. After immigration, our CARE Ambassador handed us off to another CARE Ambassador who is stationed after Immigration checks.
Getting to our gate, required us to take a bus and not the usual train. Again, there was an extremely long queue and we were navigated by the CARE Ambassadors through the lines with the least number of people in them. We got on our bus and when we arrived at the other side, another CARE Ambassador was waiting for us with a buggy, to drive us right to our gate. The gate was quite a distance from where we disembarked the bus, so we were quite grateful for the ride.
Remember, once you reach the gate, you are no longer under the care of the CARE Ambassador. Any additional service is purely at the discretion of the airline you are travelling with. I will share, at the end of this article on the extra care extended by the airline we travelled with.
Other facilities such as a Calm Room and Sensory Walls
There are other facilities provided by KLIA’s Terminal 1 and 2, to ease the journey for our family members and friends with hidden disabilities. We did not require the use of the Calm Room, so the below picture is courtesy of the Malaysia Airports Website. The Calm Room is located at Terminal 1, KLIA, Level 5. At the time this article was written, there is no indication if Terminal 2 has a Calm Room.
An access code to the Calm Room is provided in the Butterfly Kit. The Management encourages children, especially, to be accompanied by a caregiver at all times. There are Sensory Walls available at the locations listed here on page 5. There are 5 Sensory Walls in Terminal 1 and 4 in Terminal 2. We did not encounter these Sensory Walls along our journey thanks to CARE Ambassadors who helped us get around as quickly as possible. The below picture was taken from the Malaysia Airports Website.
Arrival at our Destination
Before leaving, I did a quick check if the airport at our destination had a similar service to the Butterfly Effect. Thanks to the help of a good friend, we found “paid-for” services similar to what we received for free at KLIA. The services are manned by an American company called Jodogo Assist. It provides VIP, concierge and airport meet & greet services. These services are not limited to only people with disabilities but is a paid-for service, for anyone. The rate quoted to us per person was USD95. This price was for our intended destination and fees may vary depending on the locations. Their list of locations are at the bottom of their Website.
We opted not to pay the USD95 x 3 and decided we would go with the flow upon arrival. We were lucky, that, there was no queue at Immigration when we arrived, baggage claim and all other checks were a breeze. Our son, however, was pretty tired from waking up very early and travelling (it was a less than 4 hour flight and he had a nap). He had fun sitting on the trolley still wearing his Butterfly lanyard, proudly.
Services provided by the Airlines
Services provided by airline will definitely vary. We travelled via Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and I was told by friends, that we could call ahead of our flight to make certain requests. So, I called MAS Customer Service (who were very helpful), about a week prior to our flight to request for a Kids Meal for our son and for “Special Assist”. I explained that my son did not need a wheelchair and was physically capable of moving around, however he is autistic and we may need extra assistance on board the flight. They kindly noted this down in the system for both our departure and return flights.
What did the special assistance entitle us to? Again, this may vary according to the airlines and particular flights you are on. We booked Economy seats with add on baggage and no other extras such as hot seats. We were allowed to board the flight together with the Business Class passengers, and those travelling with infants and toddlers. I just informed the personnel in charge of passengers boarding, that we had requested for special assist.
On board the flight, our son received his meal first, together with other passengers who requested special assist. This allowed my husband and I to ensure our son had his meal, before our own arrived and we could eat. We did not require any other additional assistance on board the flight as our son was quite calm and happy to play with the blankets, pillows and fell asleep listening to nursery rhymes on their in flight entertainment.
Coming Home…
Thanks to the special assist requested ahead with MAS, when we arrived at the airport for our return flight, the MAS personnel on ground, allowed us to check in at the Business Class lane which had a much shorter queue. Again, Immigration’s queue was very short and we got through security without any incident. Our flight was delayed but we managed to keep our son in good spirits till it was time to board our flight.
Boarding our flight, once again we were allowed to board with the Business Class passengers and those travelling with infants and toddlers. Note that the personnel may not know who you are, so always go up front and let them know. Again, our flight was without incident and our son slept through take off and was very excited when we landed in KLIA.
To our most pleasant surprise, the KLIA CARE Ambassadors, waited for us with my son’s name on a placard, when we disembarked from our plane. They had a buggy ready for us and even followed us through duty free to pick up a few knick-knacks. We were once again escorted through Immigration, to the counters and not the auto-gate lanes, to baggage claim, through Customs and right to our vehicle that was going to pick us up.
And it’s wrap!
Our trip was short and sweet. The positive experience at KLIA upon departure, ensured we were onto a good start, and this made a huge difference to our overall travel experience. We now know that our son loves travelling and enjoys exploring new places. He was quite adaptable to the food and different surroundings of a foreign country. When we came home, it felt so good to be welcomed with open arms. When we talk about unmatched Malaysian hospitality – this is it! From Malaysia Airports Butterfly Effect, to our very own national carrier MAS, we had an extremely pleasant experience. We can’t wait to plan our next family holiday.
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