Sultan Azlan Shah Airport is an airport that serves

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

, a city in the state of

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand' ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. It is located away from the city centre. Sultan Azlan Shah Airport has been ranked as the seventh busiest airport in Malaysia.

History

Originating as a small airfield for

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

aircraft, eventually being expanded so that jet operations could be accommodated. The then new airport terminal was made ready for the visit by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

to the Royal Town of Kuala Kangsar in 1989. The airport had then been used by many passengers (somewhat due to

Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (The ...

serving the city and still being based in Subang). Once the North-South Expressway opened, many people opted to use other methods rather than the often more expensive air travel; as a consequence of the lack of demand, Malaysia Airlines and later

AirAsia Capital A Berhad, () operating as AirAsia (stylized as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia operat ...

withdrew their services. Following the introduction of electric trains having a direct link to

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

city centre,

Malaysia Airports Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad () is a Malaysian airport company that manages most of the airports in Malaysia. The firm was recently awarded the duty to manage airports in international destinations. It has its head office in the Malaysia ...

were forced to reconsider the financial viability of the site. In the hopes of renewing the airport for use by larger airlines, a new and 'modern' terminal building and an extended runway were constructed at a cost of RM45 million. The runway length of was so that larger aircraft like the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

and

Airbus A320 family The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fam ...

could land and take off. The key features of the new terminal were a larger and more spacious departure and arrival halls, full air-conditioning in the terminal, and increased passenger capacity. Unfortunately the new runway was left to be restricted to

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...

airliners only, due to a number of potholes. Several months later, the issue was resolved, only to then have a repeated issue. Since then, the runway has been safe and used daily. Malindo Air started a new service to Medan in 2018. AirAsia resumed services from

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. ...

to Ipoh in October 2018. In December 2018, AirAsia launched services to Singapore from Ipoh.

Future

Upon the realisation by the Malaysian Government that the airport was unable to continue to expand (due to being surrounded by residential areas), there have been suggestions that sites further away from the city centre, in either Seri Iskandar or Batang Padang near Tapah. However, there have been no such actions in the subsequent years. An alternative plan had been considered to utilise Ipoh as a feeder airport, as the airport was unable to compete with the larger and more established airports in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

and

Kuala Lumpur International Airport Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is Malaysia's main international airport. It is located in the Sepang District of Selangor, approximately south of Kuala Lumpur and serves the city's greater conurbation. KLIA is the largest and b ...

. Several airlines have mentioned their desire to begin serving the airport, but only plans by Tigerair (now Scoot) have materialised. Other airlines based in China and Indonesia have also expressed interest.Ipoh airport eyeing flights from Xiamen – Nation
''The Star'' (23 May 2013). In March 2017, the

state government announced that the airport's operators would be upgrading the terminal so that there would be more space for passengers. Next year it is expected that the Perak state government will improve the airport and extend the runway from .

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Traffic and statistics

References

External links

Sultan Azlan Shah Airport, Ipoh
at

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad () is a Malaysian airport company that manages most of the airports in Malaysia. The firm was recently awarded the duty to manage airports in international destinations. It has its head office in the Malaysia ...

Location Map of Sultan Azlah Shah Airport
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New Ipoh Airport Strategy,NST Online,17/03/2010

{{authority control Airports in Perak Buildings and structures in Ipoh