SANDAKAN Airport will serve as a catalyst to drive development in the district, especially in eco-tourism, Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong said.

He said the RM80.9 million upgrade project that was approved in 2017 and began construction in 2019 involved lengthening the existing runway from 2.13km to 2.5 km.

“With the expansion of the runway, Sandakan Airport can handle code C aircraft without any cargo limit and flights of up to six hours. This will directly encourage more commercial airlines to fly directly to Sandakan.

“It will also boost the number of domestic and foreign tourists and increase competitiveness in the commercial and tourism spheres,” he said at the airport today.

Wee said efforts were currently focused on attracting tourists and tasking the Malaysian Aviation Commission to ensure all flights to Sabah would consider Sandakan Airport.

According to Wee, the project also involved the expansion of aircraft parking area, upgrading work for the aviation navigation equipment and replacement and improvements to the air traffic management system in the Kota Kinabalu flight information region.

“The radar and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast equipment in Sandakan have been upgraded, where the problem of airspace previously not covered by radar due to the Kinabalu range has been overcome.

“In fact, the radar data is also shared with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia and with the Royal Malaysian Air Force,” he said. – Bernama, June 13, 2022.