Tawau Airport

Tawau Airport Lapangan Terbang Tawau
IATA: TWU – ICAO: WBKW
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of Malaysia
Operator	Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
Serves	Tawau Division, Sabah, East Malaysia
Location	Tawau, Sabah, East Malaysia
Time zone	MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL	57 ft / 17 m
Coordinates	04°18′48″N 118°07′19″E / 4.31333°N 118.12194°ECoordinates: 04°18′48″N 118°07′19″E / 4.31333°N 118.12194°E
Map
WBKW Location in East Malaysia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 06/24 2,685 8,809 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passenger 1,203,792 ( 1.2%) Airfreight (tonnes) 3,910 ( 19.8%) Aircraft movements 14,007 ( 2.7%)
Sources: official web site[1][2]

Tawau Airport (Malay: Lapangan Terbang Tawau) (IATA: TWU, ICAO: WBKW) is an airport located 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) north east^[2] of Tawau, a town in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. It is the second airport in Sabah with immigration counters for international flights. The new runway could cater for aircraft as big as Airbus series.

Like other airports in the country, Tawau Airport is under the management of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad.

Tawau airport is the nearest airport to the diving islands of Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai.

History

During the early days, Tawau airport was located on Jalan Utara, literally known as Northern road about 2 mi (3.2 km) away from Tawau. The airport was officially opened in 1968 by the former Transport Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Haji Sardon. It was only used to cater to small aircraft, such as Fokker 50.

However, on 15 September 1995, a Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133, a Fokker 50 from Kota Kinabalu touched down 500 m (1,600 ft) before the end of the 2,200 m (7,218 ft) long runway. While attempting to carry out a go-around, the aircraft crashed into a Malay village, Kampung Seri Menanti, causing 34 fatalities including two crew.^[3] Another MAS Boeing 737-400 plane was skidded off the runway in October 2001 without any causing any injuries to the passengers.

New airport

At present, this airport is being expanded to accommodate medium wide-body aircraft with 2 aero bridges. In 2008, the airport handled 700,859 passengers, 19,328 aircraft movements and over 8,900 metric tonnes of cargo. The airport is able to handle over 1.8 million passengers per year.

According to a survey, the old airport has one of the shortest runways in the country. Soon, a new international airport was in the government blue plan to shift Tawau airport to a new location along Tawau – Semporna highway, 30 km (19 mi) from Tawau.

The airport was subsequently opened to public in December 2001. In year 2003, Tawau Airport was officially launched by the former Transport Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik. Tawau Airport became the second largest airport in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
AirAsia	Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International
Malaysia Airlines	Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International
Malaysia Airlines operated by MASwings	Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tarakan

Traffic and statistics

Traffic

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics

Year	Passengers handled	Passenger % Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Cargo % Change	Aircraft Movements	Aircraft % Change
2003	551,168		2,701		8,368
2004	620,847	12.6	2,968	9.9	8,900	6.4
2005	680,901	9.7	3,885	30.9	9,814	10.3
2006	660,331	3.0	3,030	22.0	9,215	6.1
2007	736,646	11.6	2,134	29.6	7,992	13.3
2008	768,967	4.4	1,262	40.9	8,546	6.9
2009	866,601	12.7	1,951	54.6	9,876	15.6
2010	897,848	3.6	3,045	56.1	10,845	9.8
2011	922,452	2.7	3,198	5.0	10,186	6.1
2012	982,153	6.5	2,489	22.2	11,087	8.8
2013	1,202,344	22.4	2,844	14.3	13,896	26.5
2014	1,218,616	1.4	3,265	14.8	14,396	3.6
2015	1,203,792	1.2	3,910	19.8	14,007	2.7
^Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[4]

Statistics

Rank	Destination	Frequency (Weekly)
1	Kota Kinabalu, Sabah	56
2	Kuala Lumpur	42
3	Sandakan, Sabah	14
4	Tarakan, Indonesia	7
5	Johor Bahru, Johor	4

Overview

An aerobridge in Tawau Airport

Tawau Airport is located at Balung, 3 km (1.9 mi) further in from the Pan Borneo Highway. Tawau Airport was to be built as the most southeast international airport in Sabah.

• Runway

Tawau airport has a 2,685 m × 47 m (8,809 ft × 154 ft) long fully service runway, namely runway 06/24. Runway 24 is equipped with Instrument Landing System (ILS) while runway 06 doesn't.

• Airport Terminal

The terminal is a one and a half stories building, which consists of two aerobridges, and its large apron can accommodate eight aircraft at one time.

• Car Park

Open air car park is provided with 500 parking lots.

• Police Station

An airport police station is located just at the opposite of the main terminal building.

• Taxi and Town Shuttle Bus Service

Taxi coupon or town shuttle bus ticket to Tawau or Semporna can be bought at the respective counters inside the terminal.

• Traffic and Passenger Flow

In 2008, 768,967 passengers went through the airport with 10,546 aircraft movements.^[1]

See also

• Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
• Far East Air Force (Royal Air Force)
• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

1. Tawau Airport, Sabah at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
2. WBK - TAWAU at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
3. Aircraft accident Fokker 50 9M-MGH Tawau Airport (TWU) on 15 Sep 1995
4. "MAHB Annual Report 2015" (PDF). Malaysia Airports. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.

External links

• Tawau Airport, Sabah at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
• Current weather for WBKW at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for TWU at Aviation Safety Network