Batu Berendam Airport
Encyclopedia
Malacca Airport is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...

 in Malaysia. The Airport serves the city and the state of Melaka, as well as northern Johor
Johor
Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...

.

The airport, which occupies 141 acre (0.57060726 km²) of land, was built in 1952.

The airport and particularly its control tower bears historical significance as it was the same tower which guided the plane of Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, AC, CH was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained as the Prime Minister after Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined the...

, the first Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 of Malaysia, to land from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 20 February 1956. It was in Malacca that Tunku announced the date for the independence of then Malaya
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...

 from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Considering the historical nature of this control tower, the Chief Minister of Malacca, Mohd Ali Rustam
Mohd Ali Rustam
Datuk Seri Haji Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam is a Malaysian politician. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation and is the current Chief Minister of the state of Malacca.-Biography:...

 is attempting to save the tower, by either relocating it, or by changing plans to incorporate the tower.

Currently, the airport services Wings Air
Wings Air
Wings Abadi Airlines, usually shortened to Wings Air, is a scheduled commuter passenger airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia, operating out of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport...

 and Firefly
Firefly (airline)
FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, operating as Firefly, is a full service point to point carrier and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. Its head office is located on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. It claims to be the first community airline in Malaysia...

.Which operates flights from Pekanbaru
Pekanbaru
Pekanbaru is the capital of Riau, a province in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra. It has an area of 632.26 km² and a population of 903,902. Located on the Siak River, which drains to the Strait of Malacca...

 3 times per week by Wings Air and from Subang to Medan via Melaka 2 time per week by Firefly. Malacca has become a popular destination for health care and medical tourism from Indonesia, particularly Sumatera. This has greatly increased the passenger influx through the airport, with all three private hospitals in the city operating regular free shuttle-bus services to and from the airport.

The airport is also used as the base of the Malaysian flying academy
Malaysian Flying Academy
Malaysian flying academy , is a flying academy located at the Malacca International Airport, Malacca, Malaysia.The school started training students in 1982.-Training and facilities:...

 (MFA), which has been operating out of the airport since 1987.

Melaka International Airport ( Recognized by Melaka state government )

The airport had an earth breaking ceremony on April 1, 2006, and is currently undergoing an upgrade, due to be completed by 29 April 2009. The runway is being upgraded from 1372 x 37 meters, to 2045 x 45 meters, allowing Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

 and Airbus A320
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...

 aircraft to take off. The terminal complex is being replaced by a new 7,000 square-meter terminal equipped with international-standard amenities. The control tower
Control tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...

 is being replaced and complemented with advanced aeronautical devices. Both ends of the runway will contain facilities to guide night landing and better assure safety in bad weather conditions.

In March 2009, Mohd Ali Rustam announced that the runway extension will be completed by October 2009 after a loan of RM65 million was approved by the Federal Government.

On May 2009, the new terminal was officially opened. The new terminal could handle 1.5 million passengers annually as opposed to the 30,000 of the old terminal. The airport was visited by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on February 2010. In his visit, he officially renamed the airport Malacca International Airport..

Airlines and Destinations

Airlines Destination Frequency
Wings Air
Wings Air
Wings Abadi Airlines, usually shortened to Wings Air, is a scheduled commuter passenger airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia, operating out of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport...

Pekan Baru 3 times per week
Firefly
Firefly (airline)
FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, operating as Firefly, is a full service point to point carrier and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. Its head office is located on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. It claims to be the first community airline in Malaysia...

 *
Medan, Subang 2 times per week


Firefly
Firefly (airline)
FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, operating as Firefly, is a full service point to point carrier and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. Its head office is located on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. It claims to be the first community airline in Malaysia...

* routes SZB-MKZ-MES-MKZ-SZB

Traffic and Statistics

Overall Operational Statistics
Years Passenger Movements Aircraft Movements Cargo Movements in Metric Tonnes Cargo Movements in Kilograms
2003 31,108 57,636 214 471
2004 46,692 70,369 602 1,327
2005 27,683 77,504 370 815
2006 18,509 74,880 146 321
2007 27,209 64,936 219 219,348
2008 23,751 60,512 179 178,618
2009 18,576 54,160 179 178,618
2010 21,687 60,811 144 144

Gallery

External links




The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK