Sultan Ismail Petra Airport is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

that operates in

Kota Bharu Kota Bharu, colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mouth of the Kelantan River. The ...

, a city in the state of

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. The airport is named after

Ismail Petra of Kelantan Sultan Ismail Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Yahya Petra ( Jawi: ; 11 November 1949 – 28 September 2019) was the 28th Sultan of Kelantan who reigned from 30 March 1979 to 13 September 2010. He succeeded on the death of his father, Sultan Yahy ...

, the twenty eight Sultan of Kelantan, who ruled from 1979 to 2010. The present new terminal was officially opened in September 2002. The 12,000 m² airport terminal has three aircraft stands, three

aerobridges A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, m ...

and is able to handle maximum capacity 1.45 million passengers. The airport consists of 9 check-in counters and offers flights between a total of 7 domestic destinations from

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 ...

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 operate ...

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

, and

Malindo Air Batik Air Malaysia (formerly known as Malindo Air) is a Malaysian full service carrier, an associate carrier of Indonesian Lion Air Group, with headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The original name Malindo signifies a cooperative ...

. In 2014, this made it the busiest airport in the East Coast.

History

The airport is a former RAF Station, RAF Kota Bharu being a former British military airfield was the landing site of the Japanese invasion of Malaya during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The scene of the first Japanese landing in Malaya on 8 December 1941. After the war, the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

military airfield was turned into a civilian airport. The passenger terminal was built and was known as Pengkalan Chepa Airport. After the terminal was expanded and a new building was built, it became known as Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, currently known as the old terminal of the

Asia Pacific Flight Training Asia Pacific Flight Training Sdn. Bhd. (APFT), is a flying academy located at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. APFT offers courses leading to the airplane private, commercial and airline transport pilot licences ...

flying school. In 1999, the government announced that the

Sultan Ismail Petra Sultan Ismail Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Yahya Petra ( Jawi: ; 11 November 1949 – 28 September 2019) was the 28th Sultan of Kelantan who reigned from 30 March 1979 to 13 September 2010. He succeeded on the death of his father, Sultan Yahy ...

Airport will be relocated to a new terminal building. The project started in September 2000 and was completed in June 2002 with a total cost of approximately RM55 million.

Relocating to the new building

The new terminal started operating from 12 September 2002. The building of

Airport,

is synonymous with the Islamic image of the state. This new terminal adopted the

Moorish architecture Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture which developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (on the Iberian peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). The term "Moorish" com ...

. It has curved archways and is whiter in colour. The airport has a 12,000 square metre terminal with three aircraft stands and the most modern and technically advanced navigational aids. It has three

were salvaged from the old Subang Airport and refurbished, the terminal can accommodate up to 1.45 million passengers a year. The new terminal of the airport is equipped with all of the modern facilities and services to meet the requirements of the innumerable travelers flying to and from the airport every day. The basic services available include information and customer service desk, medical services, wheelchair services for disabled travelers, police services and others. There are also porter services to help travelers with their luggage. The major facilities that are found in this airport include shuttle and car rental representative counters, automated teller machines, currency exchange, gift shops, a

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

restaurant and small eating joints.

Expansion and developments

In the third quarter of 2008,

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 ...

built a new hangar, a new apron, new aircraft and helicopter parking bays and made taxiway improvements to cater to the growth of the

flying school. In October 2008, the government announced that it intends to extend the runway to a length of 2,400 m (7,874 ft). The

Airport serves

. In May 2010, TRC Synergy Bhd's unit, Trans Resources Corp Sdn Bhd has secured a RM45.5 million contract to upgrade the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in Kota Bharu. TRC said its unit received the letter of acceptance from Wira Akil Holdings Sdn Bhd. The letter of acceptance from Wira Akil is subsequent to an award being given by the Ministry of Transport to Wira Akil whereby TRC is named as the sub-contractor for the project. The project started on 14 June 2010 and includes the construction of a taxiway, helicopter pads, a meteorological station and instrument landing system (ILS). The airport runway has been lengthened from 1,981 m to 2,400 m, and can accommodate the

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

and

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

. All works are slated for completion by September 2011. In February 2013,

AirAsia Berhad 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 operate ...

and Firefly Sdn Bhd signed an agreement with Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to make Sultan Ismail Petra Airport their secondary hubs. In July 2015, Malaysia Airports is planning for the expansion Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Kelantan, which has already exceeded its 1.5 million capacity. The building will be expanded to cater to 4 million passengers with a new

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

and additional aircraft stands (

aerobridge A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...

) to cope with the expected increase in traffic in the coming decade. In

2016 Malaysian federal budget The Malaysian federal budget for 2016 fiscal year was presented to the Dewan Rakyat by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Najib Razak on Friday, 23 October 2015. Summary multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

, additional aircraft stands (

), apron expansion, enlargement runway/taxiway and a new terminal. In October 2017, Malaysia Federal Government allocate RM 450 Million for upgrading the airport terminals.

Operating hours

The airport's normal operating hours are between 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. In the event of flight delays, the airport will remain open until the flight has taken off or has been cancelled.

Airlines and destinations

Traffic and statistics

Charter operators

MHS Aviation

* MHS Aviation is the leading provider of helicopter charter services in Sultan Ismail Petra Airport. Specializing in the movement of personnel, ferrying workers to and from offshore production platforms, equipment to and from the offshore installation and drilling rigs mainly for oil companies in the Malaysia-Thailand joint development area, South China Sea.

Weststar Aviation

Weststar Aviation Weststar Aviation Services Sdn Bhd (doing business as Weststar Aviation Services) is a non-scheduled airline company based in Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport. It is a subsidiary of Weststar Group. History It was established in April 2003 upon ...

is the other charter offshore helicopter operator which operates from this airport to oil and gas companies in the Malaysia-Thailand joint development area, South China Sea.

Gallery

File:WMKCHC.JPG, Holding point C and apron as seen in the new section of the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport File:Flughafen kota bharu 3.jpg,

Air Traffic Controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...

tower at Sultan Ismail Petra Airport File:Kota Bharu Airport Apron View.jpg, Apron view of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport File:Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, IATA, KBR, ICAO, WMKC.jpg, Boarding Gate view of Sultan Ismail Petra Airport

References

TRC Synergy unit wins SIP airport contract

Relocates New Building

KB Airport Enlargement Plan

http://www.airliners.net

Process of assessing, appointing consultants and contractors for the project to upgrade

External links

Sultan Ismail Petra Airport, Kota Bharu
at

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Sultan Ismail Petra Airport Real Time Flight Schedule
{{authority control Airports in Kelantan Kota Bharu District