Sultan Azlan Shah Airport

Sultan Azlan Shah Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Government of Malaysia
Operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB)
Serves Perak, Malaysia
Location Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Time zone MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL 130 ft / 40 m
Coordinates 04°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
Map
WMKI

Location in West Malaysia

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 2,000 6,562 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passenger 222,606 (Increase 125.4%)
Airfreight (tonnes) 318 (Increase 7.2%)
Aircraft movements 19,956 (Increase 12.9%)
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 km 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 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.

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 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.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Firefly Singapore
Malindo Air Johor Bahru
Scoot Singapore

Traffic and statistics

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics
Year
Passengers
handled
Passenger
% change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% change
Aircraft
movements
Aircraft
% change
2003115,286Steady498Steady1,572Steady
2004103,123Decrease10.6735Increase47.61,402Decrease 10.8
200574,451Decrease27.8437Decrease40.51,145Decrease 18.3
200664,711Decrease13.1357Decrease18.3954Decrease 16.7
2007814Decrease98.810Decrease97.212Decrease 98.7
20085,376Increase560.40Decrease100183Increase 1425
200921,937Increase308.00Steady384Increase 109.8
201048,508Increase121.10Steady844Increase 119.8
201171,169Increase46.70Steady1,536Increase 82.0
201273,354Increase3.134Increase167.41,515Decrease 1.4
201374,320Increase1.3403Increase1091.41,464Decrease 3.4
201498,768Increase 32.9296Decrease 26.617,682Increase 1107.8
2015222,606Increase 125.4318Increase 7.219,956Increase 12.9
2016269,696Increase 21.2178Decrease 44.114,137Decrease 29.2
Source: Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad[10]

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. 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. ↑
  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. ↑ "MAHB Annual Report 2016" (PDF). Malaysia Airports. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2016.


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