Penang International Airport Closed For More Than Two Hours

January 09, 2007 18:59 PM

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- The Penang International Airport, Tuesday was closed for more than two hours from 12.45pm until 3pm following a "very urgent repair work" after some gap was found at the airport runway, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said Tuesday.

Chan said the gap occurred due to some resurfacing work at the airport runway that had been carried out between 1 and 6am, Tuesday.

"After the airport was opened for operation today, the airport official found some gap on the airport runway and this posed some danger especially to the bigger aircraft.

"This has prompted Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB), the operator of the airport, to close down the runway for an urgent and immediate repair work since 12.15pm today," he told a news conference, here Tuesday.

Meanwhile in Penang, a MAB official met at the airport said that the first flight took off at 3pm right after the reopening of the airport.

He said five flights were delayed and two were cancelled, while a direct flight by China Airlines from Taipei was directed to KL International Airport following the short closure of the airport.

"The passengers of the plane (China Airlines) will be brought by road," he said, and did not want to elaborate further on the matter.

Meanwhile MAB Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur contacted here today said they will be issuing a statement later this evening.

Air Asia Station Manager for Penang Kenneth Tan told Bernama that two flights of the airline, AK6314 and AK6315, were delayed due to the closure of the airport, Tuesday.

The Airbus A320 from Kuala Lumpur - Penang which is expected to land at 2.30pm was delayed until 3.30pm, and this has caused a delay to its flight AK6315 which was supposed to leave Penang for Kuala Lumpur at 2.55pm to 3.53pm.

He said 250 passengers of the airline had been affected by the delay.

Meanwhile, MAB in a three-para statement issued this evening said that the runway of the airport had to be closed for safety reason as loose pebbles were discovered on the runway and repair works were carried out immediately.

The closure caused delays to Malaysia Airlines flights - MH653 from Penang to Singapore, MH1142/MH862 from Kuala Lumpur - Penang - Medan, MH1146/MH1147 Kuala Lumpur - Penang - Kuala Lumpur, MH1148/1149 Kuala Lumpur - Penang - Kuala Lumpur, MH1140/MH1141 Kuala Lumpur - Penang - Kuala Lumpur.

Other flights delayed by the closure are China Airlines CI673/674 Taipei - Penang - Taipei, Lion Air JT286/287 Medan - Penang - Medan, Air Asia AK6314/6315 Kuala Lumpur - Penang - Kuala Lumpur and a cargo flight FX024 (Fedex), it said.

MAB said Malaysia Airlines also cancelled two of its flights MH1140/MH1145 Kuala Lumpur - Penang - Kuala Lumpur and MH1150/MH1155 Kuala Lumpur - Penang -Kuala Lumpur.

"Malaysia Airports would like to apologise to all for the inconvenience caused by this closure," it said.

Source: BERNAMA

Keywords: Malaysia, Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Tourism, Penang International Airport, Transport Minister, Chan Kong Choy, Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB), China Airlines, KL International Airport (KLIA), Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), Singapore, Medan, Taipei. Lion Air, Airbus A320

External Links:
KL International Airport - http://www.klia.com.my
Malaysia Airlines - http://www.malaysiaairlines.com