Kuching International Airport, Kuching

Kuching International Airport
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kuching_International_Airport_at_Night.jpg
Matthew A, Lockhart


Kuching International Airport (KIA) is the main airport for Sarawak. It is located 11 km to the south of Kuching. The new terminal building is able to handle up to 5 million passengers per year. In terms of size, it is the third largest airport in Malaysia after KLIA and Kota Kinabalu International Airport. It handled 3.2 million passengers, 39,188 flight, and over 19,000 metric tonnes of cargo in 2008

The Kuching International Airport is served by by Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, SilkAir, Royal Brunei Airlines, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Airways and Batavia Air. Together, these airlines offer direct connection between Kuching and Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Johor Bahru, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu, and cities in Sarawak including Miri, Sibu and Bintulu.

The departure lounge at Kuching International Airport
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kuching_International_Airport#/media/File:KIA_pier.jpg
Craig


The history of Kuching airport goes back to the years after the Second World War, when the British began to plan an airport for the city. The airport opened on 26 September 1950, making it the air transportation hub for Sarawak. A once weekly flight was inaugurated between Kuching and Singapore. Four years later, the aircraft movements had increased to 1550. The runway was extended in 1959 to 1555 meters, and again in 1962 to 1921 meters. The terminal building was also enlarged that year.

In 1973, another expansion work was carried out so that Kuching airport can take bigger aircrafts such as the Boeing 707. A new terminal building was also constructed on the north side of the runway. The expansion was completed in 1976, with the runway extended to 2454 meters. In 1980, the runway was strengthen for the airport to accept Airbus 300. On 16 January 2006, a new terminal building was open. With the expansion carried out, the Kuching International Airport terminal building is now 46,000 square meters in size. With the expansion, it can now handle Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 aircrafts. As part of the project, the runway was extended from 2454 meters to 3780 meters.

360° View of Kuching International Airport on Google Maps Street View

Kuching International Airport Location Map

Back to Discover Sarawak mainpage

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

Songs about Penang

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.