Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Oct. 6 the measures include 100% baggage inspections and head-to-toe physical pat-downs of passengers departing on flights to destinations flagged as high-risk, New Straits Times reported.

The enhanced screening is part of 17 recommendations aimed at strengthening security controls, passenger screening and risk management at the airport and other international entry points nationwide.

He said the measures target flight destinations classified as high-risk based on available data and reported or unreported cases, AsiaOne reported.

Passengers at Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia. Photo by Reuters

Destinations where smuggling incidents occur frequently, including Indonesia and several others, have been designated as high-risk, he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia's lower house of parliament.

For outbound flights from the airport, security forces would conduct physical pat-downs, head-to-toe, of passengers as well as 100% baggage checks.

These move come after a Malaysian commercial pilot was arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta on July 29. Indonesian authorities found more than 70,000 ecstasy pills weighing about 25 kg in his luggage, along with 4 g of methamphetamine in his carry-on belongings.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the largest airport by land area in Southeast Asia, served 5.2 million passengers in August, up 3.8% month-on-month, driven by summer travel demand from Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

For the first eight months, it handled nearly 42 million passengers.

Malaysia received 28.8 million international visitors from January to August this year, up 1.8% year on year, retaining its crown as Southeast Asia's most visited country.