Sultan Azlan Shah Airport

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Sultan Azlan Shah Airport

Lapangan Terbang Sultan Azlan Shah
Sultan Azlan Shah Airport.JPG
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerKhazanah Nasional
OperatorMalaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB)
ServesIpoh and southern Perak, Malaysia
LocationIpoh, Perak, Malaysia
Time zoneMST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL130 ft / 40 m
Coordinates04°34′09″N 101°05′35″E / 4.56917°N 101.09306°E / 4.56917; 101.09306Coordinates: 04°34′09″N 101°05′35″E / 4.56917°N 101.09306°E / 4.56917; 101.09306
Maps
Perak State in Malaysia
Perak State in Malaysia
IPH/WMKI is located in Perak
IPH/WMKI
IPH/WMKI
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 2,000 6,562 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passenger100,585 (Decrease 78.0%)
Airfreight (tonnes)0 (Steady)
Aircraft movements15,511 (Decrease 27.5%)
Source: official web site[1]
AIP Malaysia[2]

Sultan Azlan Shah Airport (IATA: IPH, ICAO: WMKI) is an airport that serves Ipoh, a city in the state of Perak, Malaysia. It is located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from the city centre. Sultan Azlan Shah Airport has been ranked as the seventh busiest airport in Malaysia.

History[]

Originating as a small airfield for Fokker aircraft, eventually being expanded so that jet operations could be accommodated. The then new airport terminal was made ready for the visit by Queen Elizabeth II to the Royal Town of Kuala Kangsar in 1989. The airport had then been used by many passengers (somewhat due to Malaysia Airlines serving the city and still being based in Subang).

Once the North-South Expressway opened, many people opted to use other methods rather than the often more expensive air travel; as a consequence of the lack of demand, Malaysia Airlines and later AirAsia withdrew their services. Following the introduction of electric trains having a direct link to Kuala Lumpur city centre, Malaysia Airports were forced to reconsider the financial viability of the site.[3]

In the hopes of renewing the airport for use by larger airlines, a new and 'modern' terminal building and an extended runway were constructed at a cost of RM45 million. The runway length of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) was so that larger aircraft like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 family could land and take off. The key features of the new terminal were a larger and more spacious departure and arrival halls, full air-conditioning in the terminal, and increased passenger capacity.[4]

Unfortunately the new runway was left to be restricted to turboprop airliners only, due to a number of potholes.[5] Several months later, the issue was resolved,[6] only to then have a repeated issue.[7] Since then, the runway has been safe and used daily.

Malindo Air started a new service to Medan in 2018.

AirAsia resumed services from Johor Bahru to Ipoh in October 2018.

In December 2018, AirAsia launched services to Singapore from Ipoh.

Future[]

Upon the realisation by the Malaysian Government that the airport was unable to continue to expand (due to being surrounded by residential areas), there have been suggestions that sites further away from the city centre, in either Seri Iskandar or Batang Padang near Tapah. However, there have been no such actions in the subsequent years.

An alternative plan had been considered to utilise Ipoh as a feeder airport, as the airport was unable to compete with the larger and more established airports in Penang and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Several airlines have mentioned their desire to begin serving the airport, but only plans by Tigerair (now Scoot) have materialised.[8] Other airlines based in China and Indonesia have also expressed interest.[9]

In March 2017, the Perak state government announced that the airport's operators would be upgrading the terminal so that there would be more space for passengers.

Next year it is expected that the Perak state government will improve the airport and extend the runway from 2 to 2.5 kilometres (1.2 to 1.6 mi).

Airlines and destinations[]

Check-in and arrivals hall

Passenger[]

AirlinesDestinations
AirAsia Johor Bahru,[10][11][12][13] Langkawi[14]
Scoot Singapore

Traffic and statistics[]

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics
Year
Passengers
handled
Passenger
% change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% change
Aircraft
movements
Aircraft
% change
2003 115,286 Steady 498 Steady 1,572 Steady11.88
2004 103,123 Decrease10.6 735 Increase47.6 1,402 Decrease 10.84
2005 74,451 Decrease27.8 437 Decrease40.5 1,145 Decrease 18.31
2006 64,711 Decrease13.1 357 Decrease18.3 954 Decrease 16.72
2007 814 Decrease98.8 10 Decrease97.2 12 Decrease 98.73
2008 5,376 Increase560.4 0 Decrease100 183 Increase 14252
2009 21,937 Increase308.0 0 Steady 384 Increase 109.85
2010 48,508 Increase121.1 0 Steady 844 Increase 119.84
2011 71,169 Increase46.7 0 Steady 1,536 Increase 82.07
2012 73,354 Increase3.1 34 Increase167.4 1,515 Decrease 1.49
2013 74,320 Increase1.3 403 Increase1091.4 1,464 Decrease 3.45
2014 98,768 Increase 32.9 296 Decrease 26.6 17,682 Increase 1107.888
2015 222,606 Increase 125.4 318 Increase 7.2 19,956 Increase 12.98
2016 269,696 Increase 21.2 178 Decrease 44.1 14,137 Decrease 29.28
2017 274,146 Increase 1.7 105 Decrease 40.8 10,910 Decrease 22.89
2018 315,673 Increase 15.1 142 Increase 35.1 10,369 Decrease 5.0
2019 457,231 Increase 44.8 0 Steady 12,170 Increase 17.4
2020 100,585 Decrease 78.0 0 Steady 15,511 Increase 27.5
Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[15]
Busiest international flights out of Sultan Azlan Shah Airport by frequency
Rank Destinations Frequency (weekly) Airlines Note
1 Singapore Singapore, Singapore 5 TR
Busiest domestic routes out of Sultan Azlan Shah Airport by frequency
Rank Destinations Frequency (weekly) Airlines Note
1 Johor Johor Bahru, Johor 4 AK
2 Kedah Langkawi, Kedah 3 AK

References[]

  1. ^ Sultan Azlan Shah Airport at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
  2. ^ WMKI – IPOH/IPOH SULTAN AZLAN SHAH at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
  3. ^ What is happening to Ipoh Airport? | Ipoh Echo (Archives)
  4. ^ Zambry Checks Out Ipoh Airport | Ipoh Echo (Archives). Ipoh Echo (15 January 2013).
  5. ^ Malaysian, The. (6 April 2014) RM45 million wasted in Ipoh airport upgrade as potholes prevent bigger aircraft landings – MSN Malaysia News[permanent dead link]. News.malaysia.msn.com.
  6. ^ Ipoh airport ready to take on bigger aircraft | The Malay Mail Online. Ipoh airport ready to take on bigger aircraft (10 July 2014).
  7. ^ "Ipoh airport shut down after sinkhole appears in runway | New Straits Times". 5 May 2017.
  8. ^ Tigerair plans to expand network in Malaysia – Business News. The Star (4 July 2013).
  9. ^ Ipoh airport eyeing flights from Xiamen – Nation. The Star (23 May 2013).
  10. ^ "AirAsia to start JB-Alor Setar, JB-Ipoh flights from Oct 1". 18 July 2018.
  11. ^ "AirAsia adds new domestic routes from Johor Bahru from Oct 2018".
  12. ^ https://www.feedme.com.my/airasia-launches-ipoh-johor-bahru-route-more-connections-to-perak-soon/
  13. ^ "Johor route for AirAsia".
  14. ^ Liu, Jim. "AirAsia 4Q20 Malaysia domestic network additions". Routesonline. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Malaysia Airports: Airports Statistics 2020" (PDF). Malaysia Airports. Retrieved 5 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]


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