Sultan Ismail Petra Airport

Sultan Ismail Petra Airport
Lapangan Terbang Sultan Ismail Petra

Boarding Gate view of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport
IATA: KBR – ICAO: WMKC
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Government of Malaysia
Operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
Serves Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Location Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, Malaysia
Time zone MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL 16 ft / 5 m
Coordinates 06°09′58″N 102°17′33″E / 6.16611°N 102.29250°E / 6.16611; 102.29250Coordinates: 06°09′58″N 102°17′33″E / 6.16611°N 102.29250°E / 6.16611; 102.29250
Map
WMKC

Location on the east coast of Malaysia

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 2,400 7,874 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passenger 2,063,747 (Increase 14.6%)
Airfreight (tonnes) 1,003 (Increase 152.5%)
Aircraft movements 42,810 (Decrease 4.1%)
Sources: official website[1]
AIP Malaysia[2]

Sultan Ismail Petra Airport (IATA: KBR, ICAO: WMKC) is an airport that operates in Kota Bharu, a city in the state of Kelantan in Malaysia. The airport is named after Ismail Petra of Kelantan, the thirteenth Sultan of Kelantan, who ruled from 1980 to 2010. The present new terminal was officially opened in September 2002. The 12,000 m² airport terminal has three aircraft stands, three aerobridges and is able to handle maximum capacity 1.45 million passengers. The three aerobridges were salvaged from the old Subang Airport and refurbished. The airport consists of 9 check-in counters and offers flights between a total of seven domestic destinations from Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Firefly and Malindo Air. In 2014, this made it the busiest airport in the East Coast and 9th by passenger traffic with 1,800,836 passengers.

History

The airport is a former RAF Station, RAF Kota Bharu being a former British military airfield was the landing site of the Japanese invasion of Malaya during World War II. The scene of the first Japanese landing in Malaya on 8 December 1941.

After the war, the RAF military airfield was turned into a civilian airport. The passenger terminal was built and was known as Pengkalan Chepa Airport. After the terminal was expanded and a new building was built, it became known as Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, currently known as the old terminal of the Asia Pacific Flight Training flying school. In 1999, the government announced that the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport will be relocated to a new terminal building. The project started in September 2000 and was completed in June 2002 with a total cost of approximately RM55 million.

Relocating to the new building

The new terminal started operating from 12 September 2002. The building of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, Kota Bharu is synonymous with the Islamic image of the state. This new terminal adopted the Moorish architecture. It has curved archways and is whiter in colour. The airport has a 12,000 square metre terminal with three aircraft stands and the most modern and technically advanced navigational aids. It has three aerobridges were salvaged from the old Subang Airport and refurbished, the terminal can accommodate up to 1.45 million passengers a year.

The new terminal of the airport is equipped with all of the modern facilities and services to meet the requirements of the innumerable travelers flying to and from the airport every day. The basic services available include information and customer service desk, medical services, wheelchair services for disabled travelers, police services and others. There are also porter services to help travelers with their luggage.

The major facilities that are found in this airport include shuttle and car rental representative counters, automated teller machines, currency exchange, gift shops, a KFC restaurant and small eating joints.

Expansion and developments

In the third quarter of 2008, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad built a new hangar, a new apron, new aircraft and helicopter parking bays and made taxiway improvements to cater to the growth of the Asia Pacific Flight Training flying school.

In October 2008, the government announced that it intends to extend the runway to a length of 2,400 m (7,874 ft). The Sultan Ismail Petra Airport serves Kota Bharu in Malaysia.

In May 2010, TRC Synergy Bhd’s unit, Trans Resources Corp Sdn Bhd has secured a RM45.5 million contract to upgrade the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in Kota Bharu. TRC said its unit received the letter of acceptance from Wira Akil Holdings Sdn Bhd. The letter of acceptance from Wira Akil is subsequent to an award being given by the Ministry of Transport to Wira Akil whereby TRC is named as the sub-contractor for the project. The project started on 14 June 2010 and includes the construction of a taxiway, helicopter pads, a meteorological station and instrument landing system (ILS). The airport runway has been lengthened from 1,981 m to 2,400 m, and can accommodate the Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A330. All works are slated for completion by September 2011.

In July 2015, Malaysia Airports is planning for the expansion Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Kelantan, which has already exceeded its 1.5 million capacity. The building will be expanded to cater to four million passengers with a new multi-storey car park and additional aircraft stands (aerobridge) to cope with the expected increase in traffic in the coming decade.

In 2016 Malaysian federal budget ( presented October 2015 ), Prime Minister announcement RM450 million for upgrading work under The Eleventh Malaysian Plan (Malay: Rancangan Malaysia ke-11) (2016–2020). Works include apron expansion, enlargement runway/taxiway and the terminal. The process is expected to be implemented in the second half of 2016. The amount approved for 2016 is RM30 million.[3]

In March 2016, Government of Malaysia announce for upgrading the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport. The upgrading of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport can accommodate passenger until 4.0 Million passenger a year. Sultan Ismail Petra Airport also will rename to Sultan Ismail Petra International Airport. Sultan Ismail Petra Airport also is the Regional Hub in East Coast Malaysia. Sultan Ismail Petra Airport will upgrade the runway from 2.4m to 3.1m to accommodate the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777. The upgrading will finish in 2020.

Operating hours

The airport's normal operating hours are between 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. In the event of flight delays, the airport will remain open until the flight has taken off or has been cancelled.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
AirAsia Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuching
Firefly Kuala Lumpur–Subang, Penang
Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur–International
Malindo Air Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuala Lumpur–Subang

Traffic and statistics

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics
Year
Passengers
handled
Passenger
% Change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% Change
Aircraft
Movements
Aircraft
% Change
2003589,950Steady315Steady10,010Steady
2004639,871Increase8.5235Decrease25.411,869Increase 18.6
2005635,397Decrease0.7168Decrease28.511,194Decrease 5.7
2006678,306Increase6.7210Increase25.038,352Increase 242.6
2007759,316Increase12.0163Decrease22.458,996Increase 53.8
2008836,060Increase10.1181Increase11.057,102Decrease 3.2
20091,003,162Increase20.0185Increase2.274,863Increase 31.1
20101,047,755Increase4.4177Decrease4.375,906Increase 1.4
20111,132,345Increase8.1164Decrease7.364,114Decrease 15.5
20121,259,205Increase11.2147Decrease10.450,991Decrease 20.5
20131,585,238Increase25.9179Increase21.850,406Decrease 1.1
20141,800,836Increase 13.6397Increase 121.644,628Decrease 11.5
20152,063,747Increase 14.61,003Increase 152.542,810Decrease 4.1
Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[4]

Statistics

Busiest Flights Out of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport by Weekly Frequency May 2016
RankDestinationsFrequency (Weekly)Airlines
1  Kuala Lumpur ( KLIA ) 109 AK, MH, OD
2  Selangor ( Subang ) 120 FY, OD
3  Penang 7 FY
4  Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 3 AK
5  Sarawak, Kuching 3 AK

Charter operators

MHS Aviation

Weststar Aviation

Accidents and incidents

29 December 2011 : A training aircraft, owned by Asia Pacific Flight Training crashed when landing at Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, 2 people were killed.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, Kota Bharu at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
  2. ↑ "AIP Supplement Malaysia" (PDF). Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  3. ↑ http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/bm/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1199481
  4. ↑ "MAHB Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Malaysia Airports. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
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