Bintulu Airport

Bintulu Airport Lapangan Terbang Bintulu
IATA: BTU – ICAO: WBGB
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of Malaysia
Operator	Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
Serves	Bintulu Division, Sarawak, East Malaysia
Location	Bintulu, Sarawak, East Malaysia
Time zone	MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL	74 ft / 23 m
Coordinates	03°07′27″N 113°01′11″E / 3.12417°N 113.01972°ECoordinates: 03°07′27″N 113°01′11″E / 3.12417°N 113.01972°E
Map
WBGB Location in East Malaysia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 17/35 2,745 9,006 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passenger 800,008 ( 3.9%) Airfreight (tonnes) 2,383 ( 2.8%) Aircraft movements 12,638 ( 2.5%)
Source: official web site[1] AIP Malaysia[2]

Bintulu Airport (IATA: BTU, ICAO: WBGB) is an airport serving Bintulu, a town in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. The airport is located 5 km (3.1 mi), 23 km (14 mi) by road,^[2] southwest of the city, and although small, it is able to handle planes as large as a Boeing 747. In 2008, the airport handled 417,918 passengers and 16,787 aircraft movements.^[1]

History

Old Bintulu Airport building (right) in 1955.

History of Bintulu airport began in early 1937 when the British colony built an airfield situated between a river at one end and the sea coast at the other end.

Bintulu old airport was open for operation on 1 September 1955, with a grass-surface runway catering for de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide and Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer aircraft operated by Borneo Airways.

In 1963, bigger types of aircraft such as DC-3 services were introduced. In 1966, the runway was resurfaced with bitumen and the terminal building was also extended to cater for increasing number of passenger.

On 1 July 1968, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines introduced scheduled Fokker 27 services into Bintulu. The terminal building and the parking apron was extended in 1981 to accommodate Fokker 50 aircraft.

In September 2005, first low-cost airline in Malaysia, AirAsia started operating in Bintulu airport. FlyAsianXpress (FAX), subsidiary company for AirAsia has taken over major domestic routes linking Bintulu, started its operation on 1 August 2006, until 30 September 2007. On 1 October 2007, Malaysia Airlines subsidiary, MASwings took over the link connecting Bintulu.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
AirAsia	Kuala Lumpur–International, Kuching
Malaysia Airlines	Kuala Lumpur–International
Malaysia Airlines operated by MASwings	Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri, Mukah, Sibu

Traffic and Statistics

Traffic

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics

Year	Passengers handled	Passenger % Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Cargo % Change	Aircraft Movements	Aircraft % Change
2003	427,894		940		13,627
2004	464,576	8.6	1,375	46.3	13,546	0.6
2005	487,077	4.8	2,110	53.4	13,619	0.5
2006	449,673	7.7	2,205	4.5	11,804	13.3
2007	381,158	15.2	2,252	2.1	7,093	39.9
2008	417,918	9.6	1,978	12.2	16,787	136.7
2009	487,060	16.5	1,903	3.8	51,009	203.9
2010	557,459	14.4	1,703	10.5	24,246	52.5
2011	590,253	5.9	2,071	21.6	17,122	29.4
2012	661,553	12.1	2,574	24.3	12,294	28.2
2013	779,774	17.9	2,553	0.8	13,661	11.1
2014	832,440	6.8	2,318	9.2	12,968	5.1
2015	800,008	3.9	2,383	2.8	12,638	2.5
^Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[3]

Statistics

Rank	Destination	Frequency (Weekly)
1	Sarawak, Kuching	31
2	Kuala Lumpur	28
3	Sabah, Kota Kinabalu	14
4	Sarawak, Miri	14
5	Sarawak, Sibu	11
6	Sarawak, Mukah	3

See also

• List of airports in Malaysia

References

1. Bintulu Airport, Sarawak at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
2. WBGB - BINTULU at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
3. "MAHB Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Malaysia Airports. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.

External links

• Bintulu Airport, Sarawak at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
• Accident history for BTU at Aviation Safety Network