Mukah Airport (IATA: MKM[4], ICAO: WBGK) is an airport in Mukah, a town in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia.

Mukah Airport

Lapangan Terbang Mukah
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGovernment of Malaysia
OperatorMalaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
ServesMukah Division, Sarawak, East Malaysia
LocationMukah, Sarawak, East Malaysia
Time zoneMST (UTC 08:00)
Elevation AMSL19.685 ft / 6 m
Coordinates02°52′55″N 112°02′36″E / 2.88194°N 112.04333°E / 2.88194; 112.04333
Map
WBGK is located in East Malaysia
WBGK
WBGK
Location in East Malaysia
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
15/33 1,500 4,921 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passenger60,640 (Decrease 2.2%)
Aircraft movements3,554 (Increase 0.5%)
Source:
official website [1]
AIP Malaysia[2]
Ministry of Transport[3]

History

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Old STOLport

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The old STOLport (Short Take-Off and Landing airport) was opened in 1960s and could only handle 67 passengers at one time.[5][6] The STOLport was equipped with a 1,097-meter bitumen runway. In 2020, the STOLport handled 29,011 passengers and 3,150 aircraft movements annually.[1]

The old STOLport saw its last day of operations on 16 June 2021, with the final flight departing for Miri at 1.20pm.[6]

New airport

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In April 2009, the federal government allocated RM436 million for a new airport in Mukah. As at 2020, the airport cost was revealed to be RM360 million by Deputy Chief Minister James Jemut Masing.[7] Works began in July 2017 and were scheduled for completion by August 2020.[8][9] The main contractors in this project were Ibraco Construction Sdn. Bhd. and Hock Peng Furniture & General Contractor Sdn. Bhd. Due to the Movement Control Order, the airport was expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2021, later than previously scheduled.[9]

The airport began its operation on 17 June 2021 with the first plane, MASwings’ MH3412 Twin Otter from Miri landing at 10.05am.[5] The same Twin Otter later made the first take off from the airport to Kuching at 10.25am.[10]

The RM300 million new airport is located 7km from Mukah town is built on 285 acres (115 ha) of land area, with a 3,120 m2 (33,600 sq ft) terminal building, runway, air traffic control tower, offices, VIP Building, fire station and passenger waiting facilities. Other airport stakeholders' offices are housed here as well, namely the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) and the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET). This new airport is also equipped with 100 parking bays, 20 taxi parking bays, 20 motorcycle parking bays and two bus parking bays. The new airport can accommodate up to 264,000 passengers annually and larger aircraft if needed.[5] The airport utilizes full LED airfield ground lighting (AGL) system, making it the first fully LED monitored airport in Malaysia.[11]

Airlines and destinations

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AirlinesDestinations
MASwings Bintulu, Kuching, Miri, Sibu, Tanjung Manis

Traffic and statistics

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Annual passenger and aircraft statistics[12][1][3]
Year Passengers Aircraft movements
2004
30,377
2,772
2005
31,807
2,846
2006
25,874
2,896
2007
20,908
2,378
2008
28,875
2,608
2009
34,979
2,932
2010
38,810
3,152
2011
37,450
3,258
2012
36,323
3,080
2013
34,247
2,996
2014
37,968
3,370
2015
35,935
3,258
2016
36,206
4,482
2017
37,148
4,234
2018
40,919
4,360
2019
47,557
4,318
2020
29,011
3,150
2021
30,595
3,110
2022
62,001
3,534
2023
60,640
3,554

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c [1] at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
  2. ^ MUKAH AIRPORT at Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia
  3. ^ a b "Statistic of Aviation Transport". Ministry of Transport. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  4. ^ Airport information for MKM at Great Circle Mapper.
  5. ^ a b c "New Mukah Airport Opens, Replacing Previous Mukah Stolport". Malaysia Airports Berhad. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  6. ^ a b John Isaac (16 June 2021). "Stolport Mukah ceases operations after more than 50 years". The New Sarawak. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Works on Mukah's new RM360-million airport set for completion by January 2021". The Borneo Post. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  8. ^ [2] at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
  9. ^ a b Moh, Jane (23 December 2020). "Mukah Airport to be operational by second quarter of 2021". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  10. ^ "SNew Mukah Airport begins operations (VIDEO)". Malay Mail. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  11. ^ "DISCOVER THE FIRST FULLY LED MONITORED AIRPORT IN MALASYIA: MUKAH AIRPORT". OCEM Airfield Technology. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Airports Statistics 2023" (PDF). Malaysia Airports Berhad. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
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