Airport safe for use

Problem solved: The Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh has been declared safe for use by bigger aircraft, as the sinkholes that appeared last year were found to be due to normal sedimentation.

THE Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh has been declared safe to accommodate Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 aircraft, nearly a year after sinkholes were found on the runway.

In announcing this, deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the consultants appointed by Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) found that the sinkholes were actually normal sedimentation.

He said the problem had been settled and that sinkholes were no longer appearing on the airport’s runway.

“As such, the ministry has declared that the runway can be fully used for Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 aircraft for landing and take-offs.

“This is good news for all Perakians,” he told reporters after inspecting the runway recently.

Also present were Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, state executive councillors Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon and Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohd Radzi.

It was reported last December that the Civil Aviation Department had disallowed Flying Fox Airways from landing its Boeing 737-400 planes at the airport in Ipoh after sinkholes were found on the runway.

The airport had undergone RM37.4mil refurbishment works between April 2011 and November 2012, which included the extension of the 1,789m-long runway by another 200m to accommodate larger aircraft.

On whether the Federal Government was supporting the state government’s application to have a second airport, Abdul Aziz said Dr Zambry had brought up the issue during the Mentri Besar’s meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and that the proposal was still under consideration.

Dr Zambry thanked the government for solving the runway problem and declaring it safe for use by bigger aircraft.

“I hope all parties now will no longer doubt if the runway is safe because the experts have given the green light. This is good news for the state and I thank the ministry and the officers involved to ensure the airport is back to use like normal,” he added.

He said the state government also received enquiries from several airlines to fly from Ipoh to several destinations within the country and overseas.

He said among the enquiries were from Malindo Air, which was looking to fly from Ipoh to Subang, Johor Baru and Medan in Indonesia.

“Besides that, during a recent meeting with China’s ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang, we discussed about the possibility of having flights to China as well.

“We will study the possibility to turn the airport here into one of the country’s commercial airports to complement the other airports,” he added.