Penang International Airport, Bayan Lepas

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For information about arriving in Penang by flight, read Arriving by Plane

The Penang International Airport (PEN) is the main airport for the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. It was formerly known as the Bayan Lepas International Airport. The airport is located in Bayan Lepas, about 16 km (10 miles) from George Town, on the southeastern part of Penang Island.

An airfield has existed in Bayan Lepas since the early 1960s. It was built on swampy land that was drained and reclaimed. A major expansion was carried out in the 1970s. During this expansion project, a new terminal building in the Minangkabau design was constructed. The runway was also extended to allow the airport to handle the B747. The new terminal and runway were officially opened on 2 June, 1979 by the then Yang Di-Pertua Negri of Penang, Tun Haji Sardon bin Jubir, with his consort Toh Puan Hajjah Sadiah, attended by the Chief Minister of Penang, (now Tun) Dr Lim Chong Eu, the Minister of Transport Tan Sri V. Manickavasagam, Minister of Works and Utilities Datuk Lee San Choon, and other VIPs. Since then, the airport terminal has been renovated and expanded a few times, the last in early 2009, when a new check-in wing was added to the south side of the terminal.

The Penang International Airport presently has an annual capacity of 5 million passengers. It has 64 check-in desks and 11 gates, 8 aerobridges and 3 baggage claim belts. It also has cargo facilities including seven freighter docks for the B747.

Presently, the airlines flying to the Penang International Airport includes AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Firefly, Jetstar Asia, China Southern Airlines, Kartika Airlines, Lion Air, Malaysia Airlines, Silkair, Singapore Airlines, Sriwijaya Air, Thai Airways and Tiger Airways. Cargo airlines using the airport includes Air Hong Kong, Asiana Cargo, Cathay Pacific Cargo, China Airlines Cargo, DHL Air / Transmile, FedEx, KLM Cargo, Korean Air Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo, MASkargo and UPS.

In terms of size, Penang International Airport is the fourth biggest airport in Malaysia after KLIA, Kota Kinabalu International Airport and Kuching International Airport. In terms of passenger movement, it is the third busiest airport in Malaysia after KLIA and Kota Kinabalu International Airport. In 2008, it handled 3.4 million passengers, 43,796 aircraft movements, and handled 192,936 metric tonnes of cargo.

Plans are on the drawing board to add a low cost carrier terminal to the airport. At time of writing (May 2009), the plans are said to be in the final negotiations. Penang International Airport won the Airport of the Year award for 2009 Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific Aerospace and Defence for airports below 15-million-passenger category.

Getting there

Rapid Penang Bus Routes 401, 401A and 401E stop at the terminal building of the airport. Rapid Penang Route 102, relaunched on 15 March 2010, links the airport with the beach belt of Batu Ferringhi.

Nearby Sights

Snake Temple

Snake Farm

Masjid Kampung Seronok

Permatang Damar Laut

Batu Maung

Sungai Batu

Click for list of Penang Tourist Attractions

Penang International Airport Location Map

View Penang International Airport in a larger map

Penang International Airport (22 May 2009)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

Penang International Airport (28 October 2006)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

Penang International Airport aerobridge (28 October 2006)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

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Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms.