Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah International Airport
nativename = Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah


IATA = SZB
ICAO = WMSA
type = Public
owner =
operator = Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
city-served = Kuala Lumpur
location = Subang, Selangor, Malaysia
elevation-f = 90
elevation-m = 27
coordinates = nowrap|coord|03|07|50|N|101|32|57|E|type:airport_region:MY
website =
metric-rwy = y
r1-number = 15/33
r1-length-f = 12,401
r1-length-m = 3,780
r1-surface = Asphalt
footnotes = Source: DAFIFWAD|WMSA|source=DAFIF] GCM|SZB|source=DAFIF]

Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, LTSAAS airport codes|SZB|WMSA (formerly Subang International Airport), often called Subang Airport, is an airport located in Subang, Malaysia, and primarily serves general aviation and some turboprop domestic flights. Although plans existed to convert the airport into a low-cost carrier hub, the change was opposed by Subang Jaya residents. Until the 1998 opening of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport served as Kuala Lumpur's primary airport. Subang Airport is currently the hubs of Berjaya Air and Firefly.

History

The airport officially was opened to traffic on August 30th, 1965, and had the longest runway (3.7km long, 45m wide - runway 15 - 33) in Southeast Asia.Fact|date=April 2007 By the 1990s, the airport had three terminals - Terminal 1 for international flights, Terminal 2 for Singapore - KL shuttle flights by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, and Terminal 3 for domestic flights. Toward the end of service, the airport suffered at least two major fires that forced traffic to be diverted to other airports. By the end of 1997, Subang Airport handled 15.8 million passengers.Fact|date=April 2007

In July 2002, AirAsia began flying from KLIA, and in 2004, AirAsia considered utilising the airport as a primary hub in Malaysia. However, the plan was rejected and the Malaysian government now plans to turn the airport into an international conference centre.Fact|date=April 2007. Since Firefly started operations in the airport, AirAsia has been lobbying the government to allow AirAsia to use Subang Airport. As of December 2007, the government still maintains its policy of only allowing general aviation and turbo-prop flights out of Subang Airport. [ [http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Wednesday/Nation/standB.xml/Article/ AirAsia a key player in changing aviation landscape] ]

Currently

The airport serves as Berjaya Air's main gateway to several Malaysian holiday destinations, including Pulau Tioman.
Transmile Air Services a national cargo carrier chose Subang Airport as their main cargo operation center, Several companies offer chartered flights and helicopter services from the airport. A number of flying clubs are also located at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport, the most famous of these being Subang Flying Club, Elite Flying Club, Eurocopter(An EADS Company), ESB Flying Club(Eurodynamic Sdn Bhd). With Eurocopter, the airport servers as a maintenance and support facility for Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency helicopters.

Malaysia Airline's subsidiary Firefly has been granted approval by the Malaysian Government to utilise the airport for turboprop flights. MAS Aerospace, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, operates a maintenance, repair and overhaul center at the airport for Malaysia Airline's aircraft and third party aircraft. [cite news| title=MAS Aerospace sees RM400m third-party revenue| author= Anna Maria Samsudin| publisher= Business Times| url=http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Wednesday/Nation/amenjin.xml/Article/

Apart from that, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport is also a hub for Global Flying Hospital.Facts|date=September 2007

Terminal 3 Transformation Plan

On 4 December, 2007, Subang SkyPark Sdn Bhd announce a RM 300 million plan to transform the Terminal 3 building into an ultra-modern general and corporate aviation hub. The plan includes upgrading the terminal, creation of regional aviation center and finally the establishment of a commercial nexus. Under an agreement with Malaysia Airports, Subang Skypark will serve private aviation while Malaysia Airports will serve Berjaya Air and Firefly Airlines. Subang Skypark recently signed a lease agreement with Malaysia Airports for the land in the Airport in Langkawi. [ [http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Wednesday/Frontpage/skypak.xml/Article/ RM300m to transform Terminal 3] ] [ [http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/5/business/19667322&sec=business Subang to become hub for corporate jets] ]

On the next day, VistaJet, a business jet service provider, has announced that it will use the airport as a base of operations in Malaysia. It has chosen Terminal 3, which is being operated by Subang Skypark to be the hub in Asia. [http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/Thursday/Nation/lima1.xml/Article/ Vista Jet picks Subang to be Asian hub] ]

The operator announce that construction works for a 9000 square feet, five star executive lounge begins in February 2008. The construction works was awarded to ArcRadius Sdn Bhd. It is expected that the lounge works will be done by end of March 2008 [ [http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_c9677f2d-cb73c03a-19214b10-a35b17db Work on SkyPark Subang begins] ] . The transformation plans also calls for a construction of two 42 meters by 47 meters maintenance, repair and overhaul hangars and ten 36 meter by 36 meter parking hangars. The construction of the MRO hangars will complete by end of 2008 while two of the ten parking hangars will complete by end of 2009. [cite news| title=Turning Subang into SkyPark| author=Thean Lee Cheng| url=http://biz.thestar.com.my/bizweek/story.asp?file=/2008/5/3/bizweek/21116367&sec=bizweek| publisher=The Star| accessdate=2008-05-03]

On August 8, 2008, VistaJet Holding SA started operations from the airport. It provides private jet travel from Malaysia to anywhere in the world. [cite news|title=VistaJet to use Subang Skypark as regional hub| url=http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/8/business/22031201&sec=business| publisher=The Star| date=2008-08-08| accessdate=2008-08-10]

Airlines and destinations

While Terminal 1 has been demolished, Terminal 2 is currently used for the management of Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad.

Following are the commercial airlines that serve Terminal 3:
*Berjaya Air (Koh Samui, Pangkor, Redang, Tioman)
*Malaysia Airlines "Training"
**Firefly (Johor Bahru [begins October 26, 2008] , Koh Samui [begins October 26, 2008] , Kota Bharu, Kuala Terengganu, Langkawi (seasonal), Pekanbaru [begins October 26, 2008] , Penang)
*Transmile Air Services (international and domestic freight) "Cargo"
*VistaJet Holding SA (international and domestic private air travel)

Accidents and incidents

*4 December 1977 - A Boeing 737-200 (airreg|9M|MBD|disaster) as Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 was hijacked, and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, killing all 100 people aboard.
* 18 December 1983 - An Airbus A300 (OY-KAA) leased from Scandinavian Airlines as Malaysia Airlines Flight 684, crashed 2 km short of the runway in Subang on a flight from Singapore. There were no fatalities, but the aircraft was written-off.

References

External links

* [http://www.malaysiaairports.com.my/index.php?ch=17&pg=55&ac=176 Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang] at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
*NWS-current|WMSA
*ASN|SZB