Sandakan Airport
Sandakan Airport, Malaysia Lapangan Terbang Sandakan | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Khazanah Nasional Berhad | ||||||||||
| Operator | Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad | ||||||||||
| Serves | Sandakan Division, Sabah, East Malaysia | ||||||||||
| Location | Sandakan, Sabah, East Malaysia | ||||||||||
| Time zone | MST (UTC+08:00) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 46 ft / 14 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 05°54′06″N 118°02′55″E / 5.90167°N 118.04861°E | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  SDK /WBKS Location in Sabah state  SDK /WBKS Location in East Malaysia  SDK /WBKS Location in Borneo  SDK /WBKS Location in Malaysia  SDK /WBKS Location in Southeast Asia | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2020) | |||||||||||
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Sandakan Airport (IATA: SDK, ICAO: WBKS) is a domestic airport which serves Sandakan in Sandakan District, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located 14 km (8.7 mi)[2] west of downtown Sandakan. In 2005, the airport handled 621,513 passengers and registered 10,876 flights.[1]
History[edit]
World War II[edit]
The site was selected during World War II for a Royal Air Force (RAF) airfield, but by the time of the Japanese invasion of Borneo, work had not progressed beyond clearing the area of vegetation.[3] After the Fall of Singapore, the Japanese military decided that its aircraft needed a refuelling stop between peninsular Malaya and the Philippines and decided to complete the RAF airfield site.[3] The Japanese Army transferred some 1,500 British and Australian prisoners of war from Singapore to work on the airfield.[3] Commencing in August 1942, the prisoners, along with thousands of Javanese- and local labourers, built the airfield by hand, including a 1,400-metre (4,593 ft) runway, on a site composed of tufa.[4][5] The airfield received its first flight in December 1942, when General Yamawaki Masataka landed in a bomber aircraft and declared the airfield open.[6][7] At various times in 1945, all remaining prisoners of war were evacuated from the vicinity of the airfield, with all but six dying during what became known as the Sandakan Death Marches.
Expansion plan[edit]
On 7 May 2017, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced an allocation of RM 80 million for the airport runway extension project.[8] The extension project commenced in 2019, but completion is delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10]
During a meeting with Sabah's Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, Wee Ka Siong the Malaysia Minister of Transport in December 2021 told that the runway extension project will be completed really soon.[citation needed]
In June 2022, the extended runway has been completed along with the adjacent Taxiway Bravo. Runway 08 is equipped with ILS while runway 26 has VOR and RNAV approaches are available.[11]
The new runway length of 2500M(8202feet) allows unrestricted payload take off for narrowbody aircraft like the B737-800, A320, A321.[12][13] This also allows operations of widebody aircraft like A330 though subjected to either payload or range restrictions.[14][15]
Present[edit]
Currently the airport terminal can accommodate 1.4mil passengers annually.[16] At peak hours, the terminal can handle up to 1000 passengers.[17]
The terminal landside has few gift shops and f&b outlets.[18]
The airport is equipped with 5 Code C aircraft parking. Of these 5 bays, 2 of them equipped with Jetway and VDGS services. The airport also has 2 additional turboprop bays. Remote Bay 5A situated further away from the terminal building can be configured for adhoc widebody aircraft operations if required.[19]
Airlines and destinations[edit]
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| AirAsia | Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International |
| Firefly | Kota Kinabalu |
| Malaysia Airlines | Kuala Lumpur–International |
| MASwings | Lahad Datu, Tawau |
Traffic and statistics[edit]
Year
|
Passengers
handled |
Passenger
% Change |
Cargo
(tonnes) |
Cargo
% Change |
Aircraft
Movements |
Aircraft
% Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 497,999 |  |
3,713 | |
10,588 |
|
| 2004 | 574,213 |  15.3 |
4,053 | 9.2 |
10,823 | 2.2
|
| 2005 | 621,513 | 8.2 |
4,531 | 11.8 |
11,662 | 7.7
|
| 2006 | 633,194 | 1.9 |
5,475 | 20.8 |
10,776 |  7.6
|
| 2007 | 626,192 | 1.1 |
6,224 | 13.7 |
8,410 | 22.0
|
| 2008 | 618,927 | 1.2 |
3,055 | 50.9 |
9,622 | 14.4
|
| 2009 | 672,469 | 8.6 |
2,099 | 31.3 |
12,915 | 34.2
|
| 2010 | 741,674 | 10.3 |
2,806 | 33.7 |
13,517 | 4.7
|
| 2011 | 788,515 | 6.3 |
2,300 | 18.0 |
11,715 | 13.3
|
| 2012 | 834,626 | 5.8 |
2,479 | 7.8 |
13,153 | 12.3
|
| 2013 | 911,855 | 9.3 |
2,894 | 16.7 |
12,856 | 2.3
|
| 2014 | 900,016 | 1.3 |
2,497 | 13.7 |
12,696 | 1.2
|
| 2015 | 853,411 | 5.2 |
3,147 | 26.0 |
12,705 | 0.1
|
| 2016 | 882,811 | 3.4 |
2,389 | 24.1 |
12,240 | 3.7
|
| 2017 | 896,347 | 1.5 |
2,211 | 7.4 |
10,859 | 11.3
|
| 2018 | 950,861 | 6.1 |
2,152 | 2.7 |
11,561 | 6.5
|
| 2019 | 1,083,686 | 14.0 |
2,547 | 18.3 |
12,179 | 5.3
|
| 2020 | 362,692 | 66.5 |
1,657 | 34.9 |
6,034 | 50.5
|
| Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[20] | ||||||
Statistics[edit]
| Rank | Destination | Frequency (Weekly) |
Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | 53 | AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air |
| 2 | Kuala Lumpur | 40 | AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air |
| 3 | Tawau, Sabah | 14 | Malaysia Airlines |
| 4 | Lahad Datu, Sabah | 14 | Malaysia Airlines |
| 5 | Kudat, Sabah | 2 | Malaysia Airlines |
References[edit]
- ^ a b Sandakan International Airport, Sabah at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
- ^ a b WBKS - SANDAKAN at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
- ^ a b c Silver 2007, p. 61
- ^ Silver 2007, p. 64
- ^ Silver 2007, p. 67
- ^ Silver 2007, p. 69
- ^ Silver 2007, pp. 79-80
- ^ Govt has allocated RM80m for Sandakan airport runway extension project: Najib
- ^ "Sandakan Airport runway extension project takes off".
- ^ Tan, Tarrence; Rahim, Rahimy; Carvalho, Martin (5 October 2021). "No construction, upgrade of airports until aviation industry recovers, says Transport Minister". The Star. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ "S'kan airport runway extension ready end of year | Daily Express Online - Sabah's Leading News Portal". 21 October 2021.
- ^ "A321 performance data" (PDF).
- ^ ""With this extension, Sandakan airport will be able to accommodate Code C aircraft without weight limitation, and up to six hours' flight time. This will indirectly encourage more commercial aircraft to fly direct to Sandakan and increase domestic and international tourism as well as boost the economy,"". the star. 13 June 2022.
- ^ "Sandakan Airport AIP documentation".
- ^ "A330 performance data" (PDF).
- ^ ""The Sandakan Airport, designed with a terminal capacity of 1.4 million annually, aligns with MAHB's projections, suggesting that it will suffice until after 2027," Loke stated". the edge malaysia. 11 October 2023.
- ^ "UPGRADING SANDAKAN AIRPORT, SABAH" (PDF). Ministry of Transport Malaysia. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ "Enjoy a cup of coffee before you fly 🛫 @mystarbucks is officially brewing today at Sandakan Airport". Retrieved 16 April 2022.
- ^ "AIRCRAFT PARKING/DOCKING CHART (WBKS) - ICAO" (PDF). CAAM. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ "Malaysia Airports: Airports Statistics 2020" (PDF). malaysiaairports. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- Silver, Lynette Ramsay: Sandakan: A Conspiracy of Silence; Opus Publications, Malaysia. ISBN 978-983-3987-04-7
External links[edit]
- Sandakan Airport, Sabah at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
- Sandakan Airport Real Time Flight Schedule
- Current weather for WBKS at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for SDK at Aviation Safety Network
