Senai International Airport
| Senai International Airport Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Senai செனாய் பன்னாட்டு வானூர்தி நிலையம் 士乃国际机场 لاڤڠن تربڠ انتارابڠسا سلطان إسماعيل |
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IATA: JHB – ICAO: WMKJ
 JHB
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Government of Malaysia | ||
| Operator | Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd | ||
| Serves | Johor Bahru, Johor, West Malaysia | ||
| Location | Senai, Johor, West Malaysia | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 135 ft / 41 m | ||
| Coordinates | 01°38′28″N 103°40′10″E / 1.64111°N 103.66944°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 16/34 | 3,800 | 11,004 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2009) | |||
| Passenger movements | 1,470,000 | ||
| Airfreight movements in tonnes | 5,200 | ||
| Source: DAFIF[1][2][3] | |||
Senai International Airport (IATA: JHB, ICAO: WMKJ) is an airport located in the town of Senai, near Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The airport is the secondary hub for Firefly.
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[edit] History
Opened in 1974, it serves the state of Johor as well as people from the southern states of Peninsular Malaysia. Senai International Airport used to be hubs of AirAsia and used to serve as a domestic hub of Malaysia Airlines until the rationalisation of its domestic routes to cut the company's losses. As a result, Malaysia Airlines only served two destinations from Senai after the rationalisation.
Today, this airport is managed by Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd (SATS), the first independent airport operator in Malaysia, after taking over the operations of the airport from Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) in 2003. Senai International Airport is able to handle up to 4.5 million passengers and 100,000 tonnes of cargo per annum. There are plans to increase the capacity of the airport to 10 million passengers in the long term and turn the airport into a cargo hub. Recent expansions and upgrades include lengthening of the runway to 3800m and building a parallel taxiway to increase runway capacity.
[edit] Growth potential of Senai Airport
Opened in 1974, the airport's main purpose was to prevent the "leakage" of passenger and cargo traffic from Johor into Singapore. However, the airport never fulfilled its purpose due to the limited number of flights and airlines at the airport.
Today, Senai remains primarily a domestic airport. With the South Johor region being developed, Senai International Airport might yet have a chance at becoming an air transport hub in Malaysia.
Located strategically in the Iskandar Malaysia, Senai International Airport is set to become a major hub in the future. As such, Senai Airport Terminal Services (SATS) plans to invest up to RM1 billion over the next few years to upgrade the airport's passenger and cargo facilities such as building a new cargo centre and increasing the airport's retail space. Since Senai Airport was bought over, passenger traffic at the airport has more than doubled in the recent years and cargo traffic increasing significantly. The number of flights at the airport has also doubled due to efforts to attract new airlines and getting existing airlines to increase flights. Qatar Airways Cargo, which started weekly cargo flights to Senai International Airport, plans to double the number of weekly flights to two due to high demand for its service with 80% of the cargo continuing on to Europe.
Also, SATS wants to take advantage of the proximity of the airport to Singapore to attract people in Singapore to use Senai Airport. It has recently completed the building of the City Lounge, located at the Kotaraya Bus Terminal. The City Lounge provides bus services to the airport, city centre and Kranji MRT Station in Singapore, thus increasing the accessibility of the airport. From Singapore, one may take a public bus service or 'restricted' taxi to Kotaraya Bus Terminal. From the bus terminal, one can change to an express bus service provided by the airport to get to Senai airport. However, if one does take a public bus over the Causeway, it is extremely inconvenient for someone with luggage since there is a need to disembark and re-board the bus on both the Singapore and Malaysian sides of the border to pass immigration and customs which is one level up from street level. If one makes the trip in both directions, it is twice the hassle. No porters or luggage trolleys is provided. Also, there is currently a minimal amount of domestic flights from Senai.
In order to attract more Malaysians and Singapore residents, SATS plans to have a wider range of direct flights to major cities such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Taipei, Shanghai, Perth, etc. However, efforts to attract other Asian budget carriers to fly some of these routes have so far been unsuccessful. Singaporeans currently make up about 40% of the passengers using the airport.
Under future plans, a new KTM mainline railway station is to be located at the airport, helping to increase ground interconnectivity for the airport's passengers. Currently, no rail service is provided at the airport.
[edit] Expansion and Future Plans
Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd, the operator of the airport announced a multi-billion ringgit project called Airport City or Aeropolis. The project, on 1,133 hectares near Senai Airport, will comprise three main components – residential-commercial-hospitality amenities, an air cargo logistic centre and a hi-tech park. The first component will cover 323 hectares while the other two will occupy 405 hectares each.[4]
On 26 May 2008, SATS announced a MYR 70 million plan to build an Aero Mall, a stand-alone and external airport mall. The mall will have a retail space of 10,000 square feet (930 m2) and is due to be completed in the late 2009 / early 2010 time frame.[5] The Aero Mall was officially opened in July 2010.
On 8 July 2008, Kuwait's Al-Aqeelah announced a project to build an aviation academy near the airport. The project will cost around USD 100 million.[6]
On 12 February 2009, the Hong Kong-based Plaza Premium Management Ltd opened its third Plaza Premium Lounge in Senai International Airport.[7] Since December 2009, the airport provides free WIFI service for all customers at the Main Terminal and Cargo Centre.[8]
Firefly has announced on 22 February 2011 that Senai International Airport will be their fifth hub in Malaysia and will be operating with 2 fleets of Boeing 737-400.[9] The proposed routes including flight to Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya, Indonesia (in third quarter) and Bangkok, Thailand (in fourth quarter).[10] Due to the share swapping between MAS and AirAsia, Firefly will be restructured and all of the jet routes had be suspended in 2011.
[edit] Airlines and destinations
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[edit] Passenger Carriers
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| AirAsia | Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Miri, Penang, Sibu |
| Firefly | Kota Bahru [begins 24 April 2012], Subang |
| Infinity Travel and Services Sdn Bhd operated by Berjaya Air | Charter: Ipoh [11][12] |
| Malaysia Airlines | Kuala Lumpur |
[edit] Cargo Carriers
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| MASkargo | Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo-Narita[13] |
| Qatar Airways Cargo | Doha[14] |
[edit] Statistics
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[edit] Ground Transportation
[edit] Bus
Buses to the city is available.
| Service | Destination | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Causeway Link Trunk Services | |||
| Airport Shuttle[15] | Kotaraya | - | |
| 333[16] | Larkin Bus & Taxi Terminal | - | |
| JPO2 | Malaysian Customer 2nd Link | via Johor Premium Outlet | |
| Maju Bus Trunk Services | |||
| 207 | Larkin Bus & Taxi Terminal | - | |
| GML Line Bus Trunk Services | |||
| G1 | Larkin Bus & Taxi Terminal | - | |
[edit] Taxi
A taxi coupon ticket can be bought at the Taxi Coupon Counter which located at the outside of the Arrival Hall.
[edit] Interior of Senai International Airport
The interior of the airport's terminal building has been upgraded to make it look more pleasant to the eye. Wood-coloured tiles was added to the flooring of the terminal, elegant-looking seats was placed in the departure areas to provide seating for the airport's passengers. The number of retail shops has also increased significantly, providing a variety of choices for its passengers.
[edit] References
- ^ Airport information for WMKJ at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
- ^ Airport information for JHB at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
- ^ http://www.senaiairport.com/about.asp?menuid=100127&rootid=100000
- ^ Zazali Musa (2008-05-22). "Mega project in Iskandar Malaysia". The Star. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/22/business/21290461&sec=business. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ Zazali Musa (2008-05-27). "SATS investing RM70m in Aero Mall". The Star. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/27/business/21349268&sec=business. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ Roziana Hamsawi (2008-08-09). "Kuwait's Al-Aqeelah thinking big in Malaysia". Business Times. Archived from the original on 2008-07-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20080712214729/http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Wednesday/Latest/aqeel.xml/Article/. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ^ Zazali Musa (2009-02-13). "Firm to open more lounges". The Star. http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/13/business/3257153&sec=business. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
- ^ { url=http://www.senaiairport.com/press.asp?menuid=100122&rootid=100003}
- ^ http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2011%2F3%2F28%2Fbusiness%2F8360478&sec=business
- ^ http://www.fireflyz.com.my/news-releases/firefly-launches-two-new-hubs-and-expands-network
- ^ http://senaiairport.com/pop_up_charter_flight.asp
- ^ http://www.fly2ipoh.com/
- ^ http://www.senaiairport.com/press.asp?rootid=100003&menuid=100076&linkid=192
- ^ http://www.senaiairport.com/biz.asp?menuid=100124&rootid=100002&splid=&parentid=100060
- ^ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.causewaylink.com.my/airport-shuttle-bus. Retrieved 4 December 2011. - ^ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.causewaylink.com.my/local-bus. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- "IDR gets a boost from AirAsia with enhanced connectivity AirAsia celebrates first Airbus in Johor Hub with flights to Macau & Palembang". http://www.airasia.com/site/my/en/pressRelease.jsp?id=af6ec5a7-ac1e00ae-5ead9d00-b6eb5e72.
[edit] External links
- Senai International Airport, official site
- Current weather for WMKJ at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for JHB at Aviation Safety Network
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