Sandakan Airport Explained

Sandakan Airport, Malaysia
Nativename:Lapangan Terbang Sandakan
Iata:SDK
Icao:WBKS
Type:Public
Owner:Khazanah Nasional Berhad
Operator:Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
City-Served:Sandakan Division, Sabah, East Malaysia
Location:Sandakan, Sabah, East Malaysia
Timezone:MST
Elevation-F:46
Coordinates:5.9017°N 118.0486°W
Pushpin Map:Malaysia Sabah#Malaysia East#Borneo#Malaysia#Southeast Asia
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Sabah state##Location in East Malaysia##Location in Borneo##Location in Malaysia##Location in Southeast Asia
Pushpin Label: SDK /WBKS
R1-Number:08/26
R1-Length-M:2,500
R1-Surface:Asphalt
Metric-Rwy:y
Stat1-Header:Passenger
Stat1-Data:362,692 (66.5%)
Stat-Year:2020
Footnotes:Sources: Official web site[1]
AIP Malaysia[2]
Stat2-Header:Airfreight (tonnes)
Stat2-Data:1,657 (34.9%)
Stat3-Header:Aircraft movements
Stat3-Data:6,034 (50.5%)

Sandakan Airport is a domestic airport which serves Sandakan in Sandakan District, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located 14km (09miles)[2] west of downtown Sandakan. In 2005, the airport handled 621,513 passengers and registered 10,876 flights.

History

World War II

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. 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. 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 1400m (4,600feet) 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

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.

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

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]

Traffic and statistics

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics
2003497,9993,71310,588
2004574,213 15.34,053 9.210,823 2.2
2005621,513 8.24,531 11.811,662 7.7
2006633,194 1.95,475 20.810,776 7.6
2007626,192 1.16,224 13.78,410 22.0
2008618,927 1.23,055 50.99,622 14.4
2009672,469 8.62,099 31.312,915 34.2
2010741,674 10.32,806 33.713,517 4.7
2011788,515 6.32,300 18.011,715 13.3
2012834,626 5.82,479 7.813,153 12.3
2013911,855 9.32,894 16.712,856 2.3
2014900,016 1.32,497 13.712,696 1.2
2015853,411 5.23,147 26.012,705 0.1
2016882,811 3.42,389 24.112,240 3.7
2017896,347 1.52,211 7.410,859 11.3
2018950,861 6.12,152 2.711,561 6.5
20191,083,686 14.02,547 18.312,179 5.3
2020362,692 66.51,657 34.96,034 50.5
Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[20]

Statistics

Busiest Routes Out of Sandakan Airport by Frequency as of October 2019
RankDestinationFrequency
(Weekly)		Airlines
1Kota Kinabalu, Sabah53AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air
2Kuala Lumpur40AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air
3Tawau, Sabah14Malaysia Airlines
4Lahad Datu, Sabah14Malaysia Airlines
5Kudat, Sabah2Malaysia Airlines

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.malaysiaairports.com.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=66 Sandakan International Airport, Sabah
  2. http://aip.dca.gov.my/aip%20pdf/AD/AD2/WBKS/WBKS%20-%20%20SANDAKAN.pdf WBKS - SANDAKAN
  3. Silver 2007, p. 61
  4. Silver 2007, p. 64
  5. Silver 2007, p. 67
  6. Silver 2007, p. 69
  7. Silver 2007, pp. 79-80
  8. http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2017/05/08/govt-has-allocated-rm80m-sandakan-airport-runway-extension-project-najib Govt has allocated RM80m for Sandakan airport runway extension project: Najib
  9. Web site: Sandakan Airport runway extension project takes off.
  10. Web site: Tan . Tarrence . Rahim . Rahimy . Carvalho . Martin . No construction, upgrade of airports until aviation industry recovers, says Transport Minister . The Star . 6 October 2021 . en . 5 October 2021.
  11. Web site: S'kan airport runway extension ready end of year | Daily Express Online - Sabah's Leading News Portal . 21 October 2021 .
  12. Web site: A321 performance data.
  13. Web site: "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.
  14. Web site: Sandakan Airport AIP documentation.
  15. Web site: A330 performance data.
  16. Web site: "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.
  17. Web site: UPGRADING SANDAKAN AIRPORT, SABAH. Ministry of Transport Malaysia. 5 December 2023.
  18. Web site: Enjoy a cup of coffee before you fly @mystarbucks is officially brewing today at Sandakan Airport. 16 April 2022.
  19. Web site: AIRCRAFT PARKING/DOCKING CHART (WBKS) - ICAO. CAAM. 5 December 2023.
  20. Web site: Malaysia Airports: Airports Statistics 2020 . malaysiaairports. 2 April 2021 . 5 October 2021.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sandakan Airport".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.