Sandakan Airport

Sandakan Airport (IATA: SDK, ICAO: WBKS) is a domestic airport which serves Sandakan, a town in the east Malaysian state of Sabah. 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]

Sandakan Airport

Lapangan Terbang Sandakan
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerKhazanah Nasional Berhad
OperatorMalaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
ServesSandakan Division, Sabah, East Malaysia
LocationSandakan, Sabah, East Malaysia
Time zoneMST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL46 ft / 14 m
Coordinates05°54′06″N 118°02′55″E
Maps

Sabah state in Malaysia
SDK /WBKS
Location in Sabah State , East Malaysia
SDK /WBKS
SDK /WBKS (East Malaysia)
SDK /WBKS
SDK /WBKS (Malaysia)
SDK /WBKS
SDK /WBKS (Southeast Asia)
SDK /WBKS
SDK /WBKS (Asia)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,133 6,998 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passenger362,692 ( 66.5%)
Airfreight (tonnes)1,657 ( 34.9%)
Aircraft movements6,034 ( 50.5%)
Sources: Official web site[1]
AIP Malaysia[2]

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.[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

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.

Airlines and destinations
AirlinesDestinations
AirAsia Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International
Malaysia Airlines Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International
Malaysia Airlines
operated by MASwings 		Kudat, Lahad Datu, Tawau
Malindo Air Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International
RB Link Bandar Seri Begawan[11]

Traffic and statistics
Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics
Year
Passengers
handled
Passenger
% Change
Cargo
(tonnes)
Cargo
% Change
Aircraft
Movements
Aircraft
% Change
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[12]

Statistics
Busiest Routes Out of Sandakan Airport by Frequency as of October 2019
RankDestinationFrequency
(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
  1. Sandakan International Airport, Sabah at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
  2. WBKS - SANDAKAN at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
  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. Govt has allocated RM80m for Sandakan airport runway extension project: Najib
  9. "Sandakan Airport runway extension project takes off".
  10. 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.
  11. "Regional Service (RB Link)". Royal Brunei Airlines. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  12. "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


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