Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 04:03, 17 March 2024

Melaka Airport Lapangan Terbang Melaka
IATA: MKZ ICAO: WMKM
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Khazanah Nasional
Operator	Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
Serves	Melaka, Malaysia
Location	Batu Berendam, Melaka, Malaysia
Time zone	MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL	40 ft / 12 m
Coordinates	02°15′47″N 102°15′09″E / 2.26306°N 102.25250°E / 2.26306; 102.25250
Maps
Melaka state in Peninsular Malaysia, Malaysia
MKZ /WMKMLocation in Batu Berendam, Malacca, Peninsular MalaysiaShow map of Peninsular Malaysia MKZ /WMKM MKZ /WMKM (Malaysia)Show map of Malaysia MKZ /WMKM MKZ /WMKM (Southeast Asia)Show map of Southeast Asia MKZ /WMKM MKZ /WMKM (Asia)Show map of Asia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 03/21 2,135 7,005 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passenger 29,424 ( 78.3%) Airfreight (tonnes) Aircraft movements 37,998 ( 27.0%)
Source: official web site AIP Malaysia

Melaka Airport (IATA: MKZ, ICAO: WMKM) (formerly known as Batu Berendam Airport) is an airport located in Batu Berendam, Melaka, Malaysia. The airport serves the state of Melaka, as well as northern Johor. The 7,000 m (75,000 sq ft) terminal complex is equipped with international-standard amenities that can handle 1.5 million passengers annually. The airport's 2135m runway allows Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 operations.

History

The airport, which occupies 141 acres (0.57 km) 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, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, to land from London on 20 February 1956. It was in Melaka that Tunku announced the date for the independence of then Malaya from the United Kingdom. Considering the historical nature of this control tower, the Chief Minister of Melaka, Mohd Ali Rustam is attempting to save the tower, by either relocating it, or by changing plans to incorporate the tower.

Between 2008 and 2014, the airport was served by Sky Aviation which operated flights from Pekanbaru five times per week. Flights ceased in 2014 when Sky Aviation suspended all operations.

"The state government is also discussing with Firefly and AirAsia to serve various routes via the Melaka Airport".

Malaysia's hybrid airline, Malindo Air, launched four-weekly flights from the Melaka Airport to Penang, Malaysia, and Pekanbaru, Indonesia, on 4 November 2014.

In 2016, Indonesia's hybrid airline, XpressAir launched four-weekly flights from the Melaka Airport to Pekanbaru, Indonesia, on 29 April 2016. China Southern Airlines launched an inaugural charter flight from Melaka Airport to Guangzhou, China, on 29 September 2016. By the end of 2016, China Southern Airlines stopped charter flights to Malacca.

The airport is also used as the base of the Malaysian Flying Academy (MFA), which has been operating out of the airport since 1987.

AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said he had discussed with Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai in Putrajaya on 29 June 2016 for the potential of turning the Melaka Airport into a low-cost terminal. Fernandes said AirAsia wanted to use the Melaka Airport but had been unable to convince MAHB to allow AirAsia to use the airport.

AirAsia marked the arrival of its inaugural flight from Penang to the historical state of Malacca on 1 July 2019.

In September 2023, all commercial operations had ceased, with airlines citing lack of demand and high operational costs. The state government was subsequently offering incentives in order to woo back airlines to use the airport, yet to date to no avail.

New terminal

Construction of a new terminal started on 1 April 2006. The runway was upgraded from 1,372 m × 37 m (4,501 ft × 121 ft), to 2,045 m × 45 m (6,709 ft × 148 ft) and is now 2,135 m × 45 m (7,005 ft × 148 ft), allowing Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 aircraft to take off. The terminal complex was replaced by a new 7,000 m (75,000 sq ft) terminal equipped with international-standard amenities. The control tower was replaced and complemented with advanced aeronautical devices. Both ends of the runway now contain facilities to guide night landing and better assure safety in bad weather conditions.

In 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 new airport terminal was officiated by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on 4 February 2010.

Facilities

APR-Aerospace Engineering has built a hangar in Melaka Airport which can accommodate Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 for Aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, Aircraft modification and retrofits, Aircraft technical handling and ground support services, Aircraft spare support and pooling, Technical training on aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul and Structured On-the-Job Training for APR-ATC's TAME program. The hangar was completed in April 2016.

The major facilities that are found in this airport include taxi services, gift shops, cafe, duty-free outlets, conference rooms, multi-purpose meeting and event centre, wheelchair service, staff assistance and free WiFi internet access.

Melaka Airport is one of the seven airports in Malaysia that provide e-Visa facilities for Chinese tourists from September 2016 onwards.

Expansion and developments

In August 2015, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, announced that the federal government is mulling a proposal to expand Melaka Airport, particularly in conjunction with the recent Cabinet endorsement of the southern state's "twin state" status with China's Guangdong city. Melaka Airport will upgrade its runway, apron, aerobridge and taxiway.

In October 2016, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Melaka Airport in Batu Berendam may be relocated to accommodate larger aircraft like the Boeing 777. Liow said a decision will be reached by the end of 2016 whether to move the airport to another location or to keep the airport at its present site based on the recommendation from an aviation consultant.

On 30 January 2017, State Transport, Project Rehabilitation and International Trade Committee chairman Datuk Lim Ban Hong said the runway of the state airport will be extended to 2,500 metres (m) following the decision by the Federal Government to extend the runway in a bid to accommodate larger aircraft without the need for land acquisitions while the work is expected to be completed in a short span of time. The expansion of Melaka Airport will be completed in 2019.

On 27 November 2017, Melaka CM Idris Haron said Melaka Airport is expected to upgrade next year (2018) with an upgrade cost of RM74 million (under RMKe-11). The runway will be upgraded from 2135 m to 2665 m and a taxiway will be built and the apron will be expanded as well.

On 20 September 2018, Melaka CM Adly Zahari announced that Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) will introduce a five-year rebate on the passenger service charge (PSC) for flights from Melaka Airport (MKZ). Aside from the rebates, Adly said airline companies operating from MKZ will also be exempted from paying landing charges for a year. According to MAHB, the incentives were introduced as part of the group's efforts in working with the state government and airlines to promote tourism in the country.

Traffic and statistics

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics

Year	Passengers handled	Passenger % change	Cargo (metric tonnes)	Cargo % change	Aircraft movements	Aircraft % change
2009	18,576		127		54,160
2010	21,687	16.7	144	13.4	60,811	12.3
2011	21,261	2.0	139	3.5	53,702	11.7
2012	34,352	61.6	195	40.3	48,881	9.0
2013	21,637	37.0	N/A		36,978	24.4
2014	14,178	58.7	N/A		23,747	35.8
2015	69,710	391.7	N/A		19,800	16.6
2016	58,703	15.8	N/A		35,252	78.0
2017	62,076	5.8	N/A		37,867	7.4
2018	52,493	15.4	N/A		33,333	12.0
2019	135,569	158.3	0.4		52,072	56.2
2020	29,424	78.3	N/A		37,998	27.0

See also

• List of airlines of Malaysia
• List of airports in Malaysia
• Busiest airports in Malaysia

References

1. Malacca International Airport at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
2. WMKM – MALACCA at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
3. "Malacca CM in bid to save airport tower" Archived 4 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Star, 30 August 2007
4. "Air Asia di Melaka", "Mohd Ali Rustam's blog", 28 August 2008
5. Murali, R S. N. (9 November 2014). "Expansion for Melaka Airport". The Star. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
6. "AirAsia to invest RM20mil to promote klia2".
7. "AirAsia welcomes inaugural flight to Malacca". July 2019.
8. "Airlines stopped using Melaka airport in absence of written agreements, says exco man".
9. "Airlines not keen to operate at Melaka Airport despite incentives, says exco".
10. "Liow: Status of Malacca airport to be known by year-end | Malay Mail". 24 June 2022.
11. "Malaysia Airports: Airports Statistics 2020" (PDF). malaysiaairports. 2 April 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.

External links

• List of International Airports in Malaysia as Recognized by Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad
• Current weather for WMKM at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for MKZ at Aviation Safety Network
• EZineer – A forum with regular updates on Expansion work progress
• Batu Berendam Airport, Malacca at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
• Melaka Air can fly only after it obtains mandatory licences
• Sky Aviation Flight Schedule
• Firefly Flight Schedule

• 1952 establishments in Malaya
• Airports established in 1952
• Airports in Malaysia
• Central Melaka District
• Transport in Malacca