IPOH AIRPORT

Ipoh Airport Upgrade Still At Discussion Stage

PUTRAJAYA, May 18 (Bernama) -- The Transport Ministry is still at the discussion stage on the proposal to upgrade the Ipoh airport, said its Deputy Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri.
He said officers from the Perak government's economic planning unit would be meeting Transport Ministry officers soon to discuss the matter in greater detail so that the right decision could arrived at on the upgrade after all aspects were considered."Till now the Ipoh airport is not serviced by mainstream airlines like MAS, Air Asia or Firefly although charter flights using propeller planes from neighboring countries do land there," he added.
Rahim said Ipoh airport was also a training centre for helicopters and fixed wing aircraft in Southeast Asia.The absence of major airlines was strongly connected to the load factor and the runway at the airport not being long enough, which caused the airport to operate at below capacity, he explained.
Rahim said if the upgrade programme was implemented, it would enable Boeing 737 series 400 or 800 aircraft land and this obviously would need aggresive marketing strategies to attract visitors to come directly to Ipoh airport.