KKIA and Tawau Airport to get RM19.4mil upgrading works

26 July 2023

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Two of Sabah’s airports, Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) and Tawau Airport, will undergo major upgrading works with a total allocation of RM19.4mil from Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd (MASB).

This was revealed by Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew, who received a courtesy call from MASB senior general manager Kamaruzzaman Razali and his delegation at her office here on Tuesday.

Liew said she was briefed on the KKIA and Tawau optimisation plans, which aim to improve the facilities and services at the airports to cater to the increasing number of tourists to Sabah.

“I am very happy to hear the good news as it is most timely, given the steady increase of tourists to Sabah after we have reopened our international borders,” she said in a statement.

She said KKIA will receive RM8.4mil for various upgrading projects, including improving the public toilets, resurfacing the runway, upgrading the commercial lots and the public address system.

Meanwhile, Tawau Airport will receive RM11mil for building additional toilets, upgrading the check-in area with a proper segregation between international and domestic segments, enlarging the departure lounge, adding more shoplots and covering up the open space for installation of air-conditioning units.

She said the work is expected to commence this year but will take some time to complete.

“For instance, building more toilets may take six to eight months,” she said.

Kamaruzzaman said KKIA is the second busiest airport in the country in terms of passenger handling, with a capacity of nine million passengers per year.

“Up to June this year, the airport handled 3,299,076 passengers with 28,642 aircraft movements,” he said.