Sandakan Airport (IATA: SDK, ICAO: WBKS) is a domestic airport which serves Sandakan in Sandakan District, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located 14 km (8.7 mi) west of downtown Sandakan. In 2005, the airport handled 621,513 passengers and registered 10,876 flights.

History

World War II

The site was selected during World War II for a Royal Air Force (RAF) airfield, but by the time of the Japanese invasion of Borneo, work had not progressed beyond clearing the area of vegetation. After the Fall of Singapore, the Japanese military decided that its aircraft needed a refuelling stop between peninsular Malaya and the Philippines and decided to complete the RAF airfield site. The Japanese Army transferred some 1,500 British and Australian prisoners of war from Singapore to work on the airfield. Commencing in August 1942, the prisoners, along with thousands of Javanese- and local labourers, built the airfield by hand, including a 1,400-metre (4,593 ft) runway, on a site composed of tufa. The airfield received its first flight in December 1942, when General Yamawaki Masataka landed in a bomber aircraft and declared the airfield open. At various times in 1945, all remaining prisoners of war were evacuated from the vicinity of the airfield, with all but six dying during what became known as the Sandakan Death Marches.

Expansion plan

On 7 May 2017, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced an allocation of RM 80 million for the airport runway extension project. The extension project commenced in 2019, but completion is delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a meeting with Sabah's Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, Wee Ka Siong the Malaysia Minister of Transport in December 2021 told that the runway extension project will be completed really soon.

In June 2022, the extended runway has been completed along with the adjacent Taxiway Bravo. Runway 08 is equipped with ILS while runway 26 has VOR and RNAV approaches are available.

The new runway length of 2500M(8202feet) allows unrestricted payload take off for narrowbody aircraft like the B737-800, A320, A321. This also allows operations of widebody aircraft like A330 though subjected to either payload or range restrictions.

Present

Currently the airport terminal can accommodate 1.4mil passengers annually. At peak hours, the terminal can handle up to 1000 passengers.

The terminal landside has few gift shops and f&b outlets.

The airport is equipped with 5 Code C aircraft parking. Of these 5 bays, 2 of them equipped with Jetway and VDGS services. The airport also has 2 additional turboprop bays. Remote Bay 5A situated further away from the terminal building can be configured for adhoc widebody aircraft operations if required.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
AirAsia	Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International
Firefly	Kota Kinabalu
Malaysia Airlines	Kuala Lumpur–International
MASwings	Lahad Datu, Tawau

Traffic and statistics

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics

Year	Passengers handled	Passenger % Change	Cargo (tonnes)	Cargo % Change	Aircraft Movements	Aircraft % Change
2003	497,999		3,713		10,588
2004	574,213	15.3	4,053	9.2	10,823	2.2
2005	621,513	8.2	4,531	11.8	11,662	7.7
2006	633,194	1.9	5,475	20.8	10,776	7.6
2007	626,192	1.1	6,224	13.7	8,410	22.0
2008	618,927	1.2	3,055	50.9	9,622	14.4
2009	672,469	8.6	2,099	31.3	12,915	34.2
2010	741,674	10.3	2,806	33.7	13,517	4.7
2011	788,515	6.3	2,300	18.0	11,715	13.3
2012	834,626	5.8	2,479	7.8	13,153	12.3
2013	911,855	9.3	2,894	16.7	12,856	2.3
2014	900,016	1.3	2,497	13.7	12,696	1.2
2015	853,411	5.2	3,147	26.0	12,705	0.1
2016	882,811	3.4	2,389	24.1	12,240	3.7
2017	896,347	1.5	2,211	7.4	10,859	11.3
2018	950,861	6.1	2,152	2.7	11,561	6.5
2019	1,083,686	14.0	2,547	18.3	12,179	5.3
2020	362,692	66.5	1,657	34.9	6,034	50.5

Statistics

Busiest Routes Out of Sandakan Airport by Frequency as of October 2019

Rank	Destination	Frequency (Weekly)	Airlines
1	Kota Kinabalu, Sabah	53	AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air
2	Kuala Lumpur	40	AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air
3	Tawau, Sabah	14	Malaysia Airlines
4	Lahad Datu, Sabah	14	Malaysia Airlines
5	Kudat, Sabah	2	Malaysia Airlines