Kuching International Airport

"RAF Kuching/RMAF Kuching" & "Kuching Airbase/Airfield" redirects here.

Kuching International Airport Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuching 古晋国际机场
IATA: KCH ICAO: WBGG KCH Location of airport in Borneo
Summary
Airport type	Public / Military
Owner	Government of Malaysia
Operator	Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
Serves	Kuching Division & Samarahan Division, Sarawak, East Malaysia
Location	Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia
Hub for	AirAsia Hornbill Skyways Malaysia Airlines MASwings
Elevation AMSL	89 ft / 27 m
Coordinates	01°29′04″N 110°20′48″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 3,780 12,402 Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Passengers 3,574,632 10.4% Aircraft movements 39,188 4.9% Cargo in metric tonnes 19,167 -19.5% Mail in metric tonnes 999 -68.2%
Source: official web site and DAFIF

Kuching International Airport (Initialized: KIA) (IATA: KCH, ICAO: WBGG) is an international airport serving the entire southwestern region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is located 11 km (6NM) south of Kuching city centre. The airport also shares its runway with the RMAF Kuching Airbase, home to the No. 7 Squadron RMAF.

The airport terminal is capable of handling five million passengers per annum and it is the fourth busiest airport in Malaysia. KIA has grown rapidly with an increasing number of passengers and aircraft movement. In 2010, KIA handled 3,684,000 passengers with a corresponding volume of 46,382 flights. In the same year, 26,977 metric tonnes of cargo were handled through this facility.

KIA is the secondary hub for Malaysia Airlines and has been growing rapidly to tackle the demand of the travellers in the East Malaysia region.

History

The airport was built by the British Government of Sarawak in the 1940’s on the outskirts of Kuching town. It was opened for used on 26 September 1950. The airport consisted of a small “L” shaped single storey Terminal, Cargo, Fire Station. Air Traffic Control Tower, Meteorological Service and Maintenance building clustered in one area, a small apron of 4 parking bays and 1372 meter long with 46 meter width of a single runway. Navigational (Direction Finding Equipment) and Radio Aids were installed at the airport.

Kuching International Airport then became the gateway to Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo (Sabah as it is called today) with the introduction of once weekly Dakota services originated from Singapore. By the end of 1954, scheduled air services into Kuching International Airport grew by leaps and bounds. This was depicted in the 1954 statistics which recorded 1550 aircraft movements, 13,564 passengers, 95,911 kilogram cargo and 25,984 mails. In 1959 the runway was extended to 1555 meter length to make way for Viscount aircraft operations.

Followed by another expansion in 1962 to make it 1921 meters in length to accommodate Comet 4 operations. The terminal was also enlarged in the same year. A Control Zone was established at Kuching in November as apart of the plan to provide an Air Traffic Control Service commensurate with the growth of air traffic. Malayan Airways Limited operated the Singapore / British Borneo Territories Regional Services with Viscount and DC3 aircraft, daily schedules linked Kuching and Sibu with Singapore on the other side, and Brunei and Borneo on the other.

In 1971 the Malaysian Government (as Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaysia on 16 November 1963) engaged a team of Canadian Consultants to make Master Plan study of Kuching International Airport.

In Decembers 1972, the government accepted the Consultant’s report. Among the recommendations were:

• The extension and strengthening of existing runway to take bigger jet aircraft. E.g. Boeing 707.
• The construction of a new terminal building on the north site of the runway.

Work on the extension and strengthening of the runway was started in 1973 and was completed in 1976 ready to take Boeing 707 with the new runway measured of 2454 meter length.

In 1980, consistent with the advent of Airbus 300 operations it was imperative the runway pavement strength be upgraded to meet Airbus 300 requirement. Work on this undertaken and was completed in early 1982.

Construction of the terminal complex at the north site took a center stage at the end of 1978 and was completed in July 1983. This modern terminal replaced the previous terminal, was opened on 24 August 1983. The terminal complex covering a built-up area of 81 hectares with a floor space of 13,000 square meter, comprised the three-storey passenger terminal flanked by a neatly planned buildings of Air Traffic Control Tower and Operation Block, Cargo Building, Fire Station, Maintenance Building, VIP Building and ancillary services building.

As in 1999, two airlines companies from two neighboring countries operated schedule services into Kuching International Airport besides three of Malaysia's own airlines and as many as 8 private general aviation companies. Irregular charted flights were also operated by two foreign airlines into the airport.

The millennium takes another rapid development in aviation world. As a result, the new terminal with a new face was renovated and extended replacing the old shape. The new terminal complex was opened on Monday 16 January 2006 by the Chief Minister of Sarawak Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud and the then Malaysian Minister of Transport Dato’ Sri Chan Kong Choy. The full work on the terminal completed in April 2006. Consisting of 9 bays (3 bay for B747 & A380 widebody aircraft), and 4 remote bays (for turboprop aircraft). Plus 3 new bays at the General Aviation Apron.

Kuching International Airport at Night

The Terminal Building

Expansion, renovation and redevelopment

Kuching International Airport is undergoing an upgrade that is due for completion on 1 March 2008. The renovation works to increase terminal building floor space to 46,000sq.m. were completed 15 months ahead of schedule and the fully renovated terminal building was officially opened by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday, 17 April 2006. The project was handled by Global Upline Sdn. Bhd. and it cost some MYR620 million. With this, the airport is now capable of handling Boeing B747 & Airbus A380 aircraft with no restriction.

The works due for completion on 1 March 2008 involves AGL, earthworks and pavement extension of the existing runway length from 2454m to 3780m and shoulders from 46m to 60m, extension of existing parallel taxiway to a full parallel taxiway with interconnection/ rapid exit taxiways including widening of taxiway fillets and shoulders to 30m. The air side apron works includes the construction of a cargo apron, high-intensity lightings and markings. Existing visual and non-visual aids will be upgraded and/or relocated consistent with the upgrading plan to serve the extended runway. With total of 9 gates, the airport can handle 6 narrow body aircraft, 3 wide body aircraft and 4 turboprop aircraft at remote stand at any one time. Besides, there is also a parking lot (Gate 9) specially made for the world largest airliner A380.

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747 at the runway

Present and future

The Chief Minister of Sarawak, Pehin Sri Haji 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.

Malaysia Airlines in KIA has achieved zero accident rate in 2006.

AirAsia may introduce daily flights from Kuching to Bangkok, Jakarta, Macau (Hong Kong, Zhuhai, Guangzhou) & Clark (Manila). The other international routes that AirAsia hope to get soon would be Kuching - Brunei and Kuching - Singapore. Should the opportunity for Kuching-Perth flights arise AirAsia would have no problems operating them with A320 aircraft.

The Sarawak Government is working closely with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia to rationalise long-haul flights. Sarawak hope use Brunei and Singapore as entry points to enhance the two prevailing gateways - Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA). This includes restoring (with higher frequency) all direct international & domestic flights previously suspended by Malaysia Airlines.

Sarawak will make a formal proposal to Malaysia Airlines (MAS) for direct flights from Hong Kong, Taipei, Kaohsiung & Korea to Kuching.

Airlines and destinations

File:AK320KIA.jpg

AirAsia Boeing 737 touching the runway

KIA Arrival Hall

Destination services from KIA.

Airlines	Destinations
AirAsia	Bintulu, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Miri, Penang, Sibu, Singapore
Batavia Air	Pontianak
Hornbill Skyways	Miri, Tanjung Manis
Kal Star Aviation	Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Pontianak
Malaysia Airlines	Bintulu, Hong Kong, Jakarta-Soekarno-HattaNote 1 , Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Miri, Sibu, Singapore
Malaysia Airlines operated by MASwings	Bandar Seri Begawan, Bintulu, Kota Kinabalu, Miri, Mukah, Mulu, Pontianak, Sibu, Tanjung Manis
SilkAir	Singapore
Tiger Airways	Singapore

^{Note 1} Malaysia Airlines's flight from Kuching to Jakarta including a stopover/transit in Kuala Lumpur International Airport although Malaysia Airlines doesn't have a traffic rights between Kuching and Jakarta.

Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
DHL Aviation - Operated by Transmile Air Services
Gading Sari Aviation Services - Operated by Transmile Air Services
MASkargo	Kuala Lumpur
Neptune Air
Transmile Air Services

Codeshare airlines

The following airlines have codeshare agreements to Kuching International Airport:

China Southern Airlines All Nippon Airways Oman Air Singapore Airlines Etihad Airways

Traffic and statistics

Overall Operational Statistics

Years	Passenger Movements	Aircraft Movements	Cargo Movements in Metric Tonnes	Mail Movements in Metric Tonnes
1998	2,022,160	35,147	17,447	2,681
1999	2,234,790 11%	34,868 1%	22,055 26%	2,760 3%
2000	2,545,080 14%	37,203 7%	24,200 10%	4,575 66%
2001	2,693,903 6%	39,815 7%	22,897 5%	5,503 20%
2002	2,935,052 9%	42,975 8%	24,835 8%	5,181 6%
2003	2,923,633 0.3%	42,138 2%	26,278 6%	5,131 1%
2004	3,317,879 13%	45,340 8%	26,073 1%	5,344 4%
2005	3,354,973 1%	43,253 5%	28,407 9%	5,086 5%
2006	3,196,352 5%	40,292 7%	29,716 5%	3,467 32%
2007	3,236,468 1.3%	37,348 7.3%	23,818 19.8%	3,137 9.5%
2008	3,238,614 0.1%	39,188 4.9%	19,167 -19.5%	999 -68.2%
2009	3,574,632 10.4%	44,761 14.2%	20,830 8.7%	821 -17.8%
2010	3,684,000 3.06%	46,382 3.62%	26,977 29.51%	N/A

Busiest Flights Out of Kuching International Airport by Frequency

Rank	Destinations (operated by)	Frequency (Weekly)
1	Kuala Lumpur	132
2	Sibu	62
3	Miri	62
4	Kota Kinabalu	35
5	Bintulu	35
6	Singapore	31
7	Mukah	21
8	Johor Bharu	14
9	Pontianak	10
10	Tanjung Manis	7
11	Penang	7
12	Hong Kong	7

Baggage handling system (BHS)

KIA conveyor belts

AirAsia Check In Counters

Kuching International Airport has two sides of baggage reclaim halls, one is for the domestic flights (within Sarawak) while the other one is for both international flights and flights outside Sarawak.

Immigration

As one of the two states in Malaysia which controls its own immigration autonomy, Sarawak exercises special regulation upon arriving and departing from all Sarawakian airports including Kuching. All passengers travelling with any flights from outside Sarawak (including all flights from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Federal Territory of Labuan and outside Malaysia), must pass through the immigration control at the first entry airport.

Ironically, the passport will be stamped once if foreigners are entering Sarawak directly with any flights from outside Malaysia, where else twice if entering Sarawak from Peninsular Malaysia or Sabah.

Ground transportation

Bus

No city buses are available at the moment.

Taxi

A taxi coupon ticket can be bought at the Taxi Coupon Counter.

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.
• MAS in Kuching International Airport (KIA) achieved zero occupational accident last year, making it one of the best stations in the country.
• Kuching International Airport was accorded Platinum and Star status by International Air Transport Association (IATA) in recognition of their barcoded boarding passes project as well as satisfying various guidelines from check-in, baggage drop and security control to boarding.

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 Feb 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 Feb 27 2006, a cargo plane of courier company DHL skidded at the end of the runway of the airport when landing at 6.20 am.
• 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.
• On 17 August 2006, a second bomb hoax happened, 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.
• 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.
• On 13 January 2007, a Boeing 737-200 belonging to the Gading Sari Aviation Services Sdn Bhd crash-landed 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. 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. Departures and arrivals of 16 MAS and 14 AirAsia flights were delayed affecting 2,200 passengers – 1,000 passengers of MAS and 1,200 from AirAsia. An earlier flight from Kuala Lumpur had to be diverted to Miri Airport. Damages included navigational lights - eight taxi lights, five runway edge lights, two end lights, and one precision approach path indicator. It reopened at noon.
• On 2 October 2009, Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-4H6 9M-MMR was substantially damaged when the port main undercarriage collapsed while the aircraft was parked at the gate.
• On 10 January 2011, AirAsia Flight 5218 skidded on the runway whilst landing. The incident occurred around 10:15pm during a heavy downpour. Four passengers were rushed to Sarawak General Hospital, believed to have suffered from health complications.

See also

• Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
• Far East Air Force (Royal Air Force)
• Former overseas RAF bases

External links

• Kuching International Airport at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
• Current weather for WBGG at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for KCH at Aviation Safety Network