Kuching International Airport

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Kuching International Airport Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuching
IATA: KCH - ICAO: WBGG
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Malaysian Airports Holdings Berhad
Serves		Kuching
Elevation AMSL		89 ft (27 m)
Coordinates		01°29′04″N, 110°20′48″E
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
07/25	8,051	2,454	Asphalt
2005 Operational Statistics [1]
Passengers Movement			3,354,973
Aircraft Movements			39,430
Cargo Movements in Metric tonnes			28,407

Kuching International Airport (IATA: KCH, ICAO: WBGG) (KIA) is Sarawak's main international airport and is situated 15 km from the city of Kuching. The airport is also an airbase for the Royal Malaysian Air Force and the newly built terminal is able to handle 5 millions passengers per annum and it is the second largest and most modern airport in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur International Airport. KIA has grown rapidly with an increasing number of passengers and aircraft movement. In 2005, KIA handled 3.35 million passengers with a corresponding volume of 39,430 flights. In the same year, 28,406 metric tonnes of cargo were handled. Kuching International Airport is the secondary hub for both Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia.

Contents 1 History 2 Expansion and Renovation 3 Present 4 Immigration 5 Airlines and destinations 5.1 Cargo airlines 5.2 Previous airlines and destinations 6 Ground transportation 6.1 Bus 6.2 Taxi 6.3 Car Rental 7 Awards and Recognition 8 Incidents and accidents 9 Trivia 10 References 11 External links

[edit] History

• Japanese make landings at Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo at 23/12/1941 ^[2]
• 5001 Squadron RAF Airfield Construction stationed at Kuching Airport 1962 on 6 month detachment to construct landing strip. and helicopter pads for incoming " Albian" force. Officer in charge of unit was Warrant Officer Greene. The unit was guarded by The Queens Royal Irish Hussars and a small force of Sarawak Rangers. based at Tawau, Sabah mid to late 1965. Accommodated at Camp Glenn, next to Tawau airfield. Not long afterwards (1965?), these units were incorporated into the Royal Engineers. ^[3]

[edit] Expansion and Renovation

Kuching International Airport was upgraded and completed at 1st March 2006. The project was handled by Global Upline Sdn. Bhd. and it cost some 620 million MYR. With this, the airport is now capable of handling Boeing 747 aircrafts with no restriction. Besides that, the project was also meant to extend the terminal building, runway and taxiways.

The runway would be 3,750m long after the extension has completed by end of 2008. The maximum capacity is also increased with 46,000sq.m. With total of 9 gates, the airport can handle 6 Boeing 737 - 400, 3 wide body aircrafts and 4 Fokker F50 at remote stand at any one time.^[4]

[edit] Present

The airport is undergoing an upgrade that was due for completion in 2007/2008. The renovation works included increasing the number of aerobrigdes to a total of 9 and providing support for the accommodation to the world's largest passenger aircraft, i.e. the Airbus A380. The renovation works on the terminal building were completed 15 months ahead of schedule and the renovated airport was officially opened by the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday, 17th of April 2006. The runway extension to 3780m is scheduled to be completed soon.

The Chief Minister of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud, wishes to attract more foreign airlines to KIA so as to develop the Sarawak Tourism Industry. Singapore's budget airline, Tiger Airways, has been given the green light to serve KIA.

Sarawak government is also working closely with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia to rationalise long-haul flights (with higher frequency) to the world’s major cities. This includes the restoration of suspended direct flights from Kuching to cities such as Perth, Sydney, Frankfurt, Pontianak, Balik Papan and other Australian cities as well as more flights from Asian and Asean regions. On top of that, the Sarawak government has proposed to Malaysia Airlines that it has one or two of its daily flights from Taipei, Hong Kong, Busan, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to stop in either Kuching or Miri. ^[5]

FAX FlyAsianXpress, Malaysia's third airlines plans for long-haul international flights from Kuching in the near future. ^[6]

By 2007, passengers from Sarawak will be able to fly from Kuching to Bangkok, Thailand and Jakarta, Indonesia on AirAsia flights. A third possible destination being Macau (Guangzhou). The other international route that AirAsia hopes to get soon would be Kuching - Brunei (3 months from Feb 2007) ^[7], and the Kuching - Singapore route as well. Meanwhile, the no-frills airline claims with its A320 aircraft, Perth was within range from Kuching, and would have no problem operating the Kuching-Perth flight if the opportunity should arise. However, AirAsia hoped to make a success of other direct routes from Kuching, namely to Peninsular Malaysia, The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, before making a decision on Australia.^[8]

Malaysia Airlines in KIA has achieved zero accident rate in 2006. ^[9]

[edit] Immigration

KIA Immigration Counter is located at Level 3 where all passengers outside Sarawak must pass through the Immigration Counter. For Malaysians, Malaysian Passport or MyKad must be shown to the Immigration staffs. For foreigners, Malaysia Immigration Card is to be filled up again and both the Malaysia Immigration Card and Passport must be submitted to Immigration staffs for clearance.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

• AirAsia (Bintulu, Johor Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Miri, Penang, Sibu)
• FlyAsianXpress (Mukah)
• Batavia Air (Jakarta, Pontianak)
• Hornbill Skyways (Regional)
• Malaysia Airlines (Bintulu, Johor Bahru, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Miri, Sibu, Singapore)
• Singapore Airlines
  • Silk Air (Singapore)
• Xiamen Airlines (seasonal)- charter

[edit] Cargo airlines

• DHL
• Gading Sari Aviation Services
• Malaysia Airlines Cargo
• Transmile Air Services

[edit] Previous airlines and destinations

• Dragonair (Hong Kong) - currently serves HKG - BKI - KCH under codeshare agreement with Malaysia Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines (Balik Papan, Cebu, Frankfurt, Labuan, Manila, Melbourne, Mukah, Mulu, Penang, Perth, Pontianak, Sydney, Xiamen) (business turnaround plan)
• Merpati Nusantara Airlines (Pontianak)
• Royal Brunei Airlines (Bandar Seri Begawan)- suspended due to financial crisis
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)- service to Singapore restored by Silk Air

[edit] Ground transportation

[edit] Bus

Buses to the city is available where the Bus Stop is located outside the arrival hall.

• Sarawak Transport Company (STC) Bus No. 12A

Schedule: 0710 hrs, 0910 hrs, 1310 hrs, 1500 hrs

• CCL Blue Bus No. 8A

Schedule: 0630 hrs, 1600 hrs.

[edit] Taxi

A taxi coupon ticket can be bought at the Taxi Coupon Counter. The fare from Airport to city centre is RM17.50, while to Damai is RM47.50 and to UNIMAS is RM32.50 one way, though the fare is increased after midnight.

[edit] Car Rental

There are a number of car rental companies operating from the Airport on the ground floor outside the arrival hall. Booking can be made at the Airport.

• AMI Car Rental. Provide various types of car, including Mercedes Benz to small Perodua Kancil.
• Hertz. Provide cars like Proton Wira, Waja & Perdana. VISA, MasterCard & AMEX accepted.
• Hornbill Tours & Car Rental Sdn Bhd. Time
• Golden System Car Rental & Tours Sdn Bhd.
• Wah Tung Travel Service.
• Cat City Car Rental.

[edit] Awards and Recognition

• KIA received the MS ISO 9001:2000 for Airport Management, Operations and Maintenance of Airport Covering Fire and Rescue Services, Aviation Security, Engineering and General Operations in the year of 2005.
• Aerodrome Certification from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) was awarded to KIA in 2005 where KIA is being the second airport in Malaysia, after Kuala Lumpur International Airport to receive the prestigious certification. ^[10]

[edit] Incidents and accidents

• In 1999, a De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou on a routine training mission crashed at the swampy area at the end of the runway. Five RMAF personnel were killed.
• In 2006, a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 slipped off the runway while taxiing for take off. There were no fatalities or injuries. All flights into and out of Kuching had to be diverted, delayed or cancelled.
• On 7 July 2006, a man called in at 6.23pm to say "Ada bom" (There is a bomb) but it turned out to a bomb hoax. A section of Kuching International Airport’s (KIA) domestic arrival entrance was cordoned off for several hours after a suspicious looking black plastic bag was found lying near one of the pillars there. MAB quickly cordoned off the area and quietly diverted the public and passengers to other sections of the KIA complex. With the aid of a Robot Scanner, the Bomb Disposal Unit closed in to check the package and twice blasted it with shotgun pellets. A thorough check by one of the police from the Bomb Disposal Unit in special suit confirmed that the black plastic bag actually contained rubbish. Nevertheless, none of the flights were rescheduled or cancelled during the whole episode. This is the first bomb hoax incident reported since the KIA was refurbished and reopened early last April. ^[11]
• On 17 August 2006, a second bomb hoax happenned, causing Air Asia flight AK5203 with 126 passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur at 9.20am grounded for checking about 100 metres away from the terminal building for explosive in “liquid-form” that had allergedly been planted onboard. All 17 flights scheduled for that morning ran as usual.^[12]
• On 1 September 2006, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Kuala Lumpur-bound flight MH2507 which was speeding to takeoff on the Kuching International Airport (KIA) runway screeched to a stop, just metres away from the runway limit. A faulty engine suddenly lost power forcing the pilot to abort flight, grounding the Airbus 330 which failed to take off at 11.05 am. Later the passengers had to wait at the KIA departure lounge for close to seven hours before another aircraft came to replace the grounded Airbus 330 in another flight scheduled to depart at 5.30 pm. Among the affected passengers of the fully boarded flight included, several members of the Organisation of Islamic Countries’ (OIC) delegates, in the State capital for the Merdeka celebration.^[13]
• On 13 January 2007, a Boeing 737-200 belonging to the Gading Sari Aviation Services Sdn Bhd crash-landed^[14] while attempting to land at 5.52 a.m. The aircraft's fuselage was badly damaged, and the landing gears and right engine were torn off during the crash.^[15] All four crew members escaped unhurt. The airport was closed for six hours while the plane was towed away from the crash site and debris cleared from the runway. It reopened at noon.^[16]

[edit] Trivia

^{[citation needed]}

• Currently, apart from direct flights to Singapore and China, there are no other direct international links from KIA, especially after Malaysia Airlines scrapped its direct links to Perth, Sydney, Frankfurt, Pontianak and Balik Papan.
• Even before expansion, the airport was capable of handling Boeing B747 aircraft. B747s can often be seen ferrying passengers to and from domestic destinations during the festive seasons of Hari Raya and Chinese New Year. However, this pratice has been discarded due to safety concerns as the runway was just barely sufficient. Now, B777s and other widebody aircrafts fulfill this role for extra flights during peak periods.
• Gate 4, 7, 8 & 9 feature double-finger aerobriges for a more efficient turnaround time. Gate 4 is used for domestic widebody aircraft flights. International flights depart from gate 7, 8 & 9 with gate 9 being the only one currently capable of accommodating the Airbus A380. Generally, all non-Malaysian airlines use Gate 9.
• The airport expansion project was designed before Malaysia Airlines business turnaround plan which saw the transfer of all Fokker 50 and DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to an all-new airline, FlyAsianXpress for rural air services. As Malaysia Airlines Fokker 50 were not solely used for rural air services (it was also used for short routes within East Malaysia), 4 parking bays were created at the far end of the terminal bearing the designation Gate R1-R4. Since the airport seldom receives arrival from turboprop aircraft (other than Twin Otter flights to and from Mukah) the parking bays are being used by no-frills airline AirAsia that does not use aerobridges.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Kuching Airport @ Airliners.net
• World Aero Data airport information for WBGG

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