Sandakan Airport
Sandakan Airport Lapangan Terbang Sandakan | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of Malaysia | ||||||||||
| Operator | Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad | ||||||||||
| Serves | Sandakan Division, Sabah, East Malaysia | ||||||||||
| Location | Sandakan, Sabah, East Malaysia | ||||||||||
| Time zone | MST (UTC+08:00) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 46 ft / 14 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 05°54′06″N 118°02′55″E / 5.90167°N 118.04861°E | ||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||
 Sabah state in Malaysia | |||||||||||
  SDK /WBKS Location in Sabah State , East Malaysia  SDK /WBKS SDK /WBKS (East Malaysia)  SDK /WBKS SDK /WBKS (Malaysia)  SDK /WBKS SDK /WBKS (Southeast Asia)  SDK /WBKS SDK /WBKS (Asia) | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2019) | |||||||||||
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Sandakan Airport (IATA: SDK, ICAO: WBKS) is a domestic airport which serves Sandakan, a town in the east Malaysian state of Sabah. It is located 14 km (8.7 mi)[2] west of downtown Sandakan. In 2005, the airport handled 621,513 passengers and registered 10,876 flights.[1]
History
World War II
The site was selected during World War II for a Royal Air Force (RAF) airfield, but by the time of the Japanese invasion of Borneo, work had not progressed beyond clearing the area of vegetation.[3] After the Fall of Singapore, the Japanese military decided that its aircraft needed a refuelling stop between peninsular Malaya and the Philippines and decided to complete the RAF airfield site.[3] The Japanese Army transferred some 1,500 British and Australian prisoners of war from Singapore to work on the airfield.[3] Commencing in August 1942, the prisoners, along with thousands of Javanese- and local labourers, built the airfield by hand, including a 1,400-metre (4,593 ft) runway, on a site composed of tufa.[4][5] The airfield received its first flight in December 1942, when General Yamawaki Masataka landed in a bomber aircraft and declared the airfield open.[6][7] At various times in 1945, all remaining prisoners of war were evacuated from the vicinity of the airfield, with all but six dying during what became known as the Sandakan Death Marches.
Expansion plan
On 7 May 2017, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced an allocation of RM 80 million for the airport runway extension project.[8] The extension project was set to commence in October 2019.
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| AirAsia | Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International |
| Malaysia Airlines | Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International |
| Malaysia Airlines operated by MASwings | Kudat, Lahad Datu, Tawau |
| Malindo Air | Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International |
| RB Link operated by Malindo Air for Royal Brunei Airlines | Bandar Seri Begawan[9] |
Traffic and statistics
handled |
% Change |
(tonnes) |
% Change |
Movements |
% Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 497,999 |  |
3,713 | |
10,588 |
|
| 2004 | 574,213 |  15.3 |
4,053 | 9.2 |
10,823 | 2.2
|
| 2005 | 621,513 | 8.2 |
4,531 | 11.8 |
11,662 | 7.7
|
| 2006 | 633,194 | 1.9 |
5,475 | 20.8 |
10,776 |  7.6
|
| 2007 | 626,192 | 1.1 |
6,224 | 13.7 |
8,410 | 22.0
|
| 2008 | 618,927 | 1.2 |
3,055 | 50.9 |
9,622 | 14.4
|
| 2009 | 672,469 | 8.6 |
2,099 | 31.3 |
12,915 | 34.2
|
| 2010 | 741,674 | 10.3 |
2,806 | 33.7 |
13,517 | 4.7
|
| 2011 | 788,515 | 6.3 |
2,300 | 18.0 |
11,715 | 13.3
|
| 2012 | 834,626 | 5.8 |
2,479 | 7.8 |
13,153 | 12.3
|
| 2013 | 911,855 | 9.3 |
2,894 | 16.7 |
12,856 | 2.3
|
| 2014 | 900,016 | 1.3 |
2,497 | 13.7 |
12,696 | 1.2
|
| 2015 | 853,411 | 5.2 |
3,147 | 26.0 |
12,705 | 0.1
|
| 2016 | 882,811 | 3.4 |
2,389 | 24.1 |
12,240 | 3.7
|
| 2017 | 896,347 | 1.5 |
2,211 | 7.4 |
10,859 | 11.3
|
| 2018 | 950,861 | 6.1 |
2,152 | 2.7 |
11,561 | 6.5
|
| 2019 | 1,083,686 | 14.0 |
2,547 | 18.3 |
12,179 | 5.3
|
| Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[10] | ||||||
Statistics
| Rank | Destination | Frequency (Weekly) |
Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | 53 | AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air |
| 2 | Kuala Lumpur | 40 | AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air |
| 3 | Tawau, Sabah | 14 | Malaysia Airlines |
| 4 | Lahad Datu, Sabah | 14 | Malaysia Airlines |
| 5 | Kudat, Sabah | 2 | Malaysia Airlines
|
References
- ^ a b Sandakan International Airport, Sabah at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
- ^ a b WBKS - SANDAKAN at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
- ^ a b c Silver 2007, p. 61
- ^ Silver 2007, p. 64
- ^ Silver 2007, p. 67
- ^ Silver 2007, p. 69
- ^ Silver 2007, pp. 79-80
- ^ Govt has allocated RM80m for Sandakan airport runway extension project: Najib
- ^ "Regional Service (RB Link)". Royal Brunei Airlines. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- ^ "Malaysia Airports: Airports Statistics 2018" (PDF). malaysiaairports. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- Silver, Lynette Ramsay: Sandakan: A Conspiracy of Silence; Opus Publications, Malaysia. ISBN 978-983-3987-04-7
External links
- Sandakan Airport, Sabah at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
- Sandakan Airport Real Time Flight Schedule
- Current weather for WBKS at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for SDK at Aviation Safety Network
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