Thursday, June 04, 2009

A world class Sandakan airport


Sandakan: Sandakan Airport will be elevated to International Airport status with upgrading works costing about RM110 million set to begin under the 10th Malaysia Plan, according to Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Rahim Bakri.

He said the project, also under the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), was among efforts to turn the district into the economic centre for the East Coast.

Speaking at the briefing by Malaysia Airport Berhad (MAB) and Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) at the airport, Tuesday, he said the upgrading in two years time would see the widening of the apron parking to cater for additional aerobridge for A330, B737-800 including open bay for FK50 and smaller airplanes.

The landing strip would be lengthened to 2,591metre from 2,133 metres to allow Airbus A330 to land while the airport terminal would be expanded.

A consultant had been appointed to do the new design for the airport.

According to Rahim, a new aviation radar system would also be installed to solve the line spot problem for aircrafts to safely navigate the airspace here.

Last year alone, the airport handled about 620,000 passengers.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk V.K Liew, who is also the Sandakan MP and was present during Rahim's working visit said the move was appropriate due to the increasing number of tourists coming to the district.

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