in Malaysia. The Airport serves the city and the state of Melaka, as well as northern Johor

Johor

Johor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...

.

The airport, which occupies 141 acre (0.57060726 km²) of land, was built in 1952.

The airport and particularly its control tower bears historical significance as it was the same tower which guided the plane of Tunku Abdul Rahman

Tunku Abdul Rahman

Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, AC, CH was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained as the Prime Minister after Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined the...

, the first Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 of Malaysia, to land from London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 20 February 1956. It was in Malacca that Tunku announced the date for the independence of then Malaya

Federation of Malaya

The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...

 from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Considering the historical nature of this control tower, the Chief Minister of Malacca, Mohd Ali Rustam

Mohd Ali Rustam

Datuk Seri Haji Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam is a Malaysian politician. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation and is the current Chief Minister of the state of Malacca.-Biography:...

 is attempting to save the tower, by either relocating it, or by changing plans to incorporate the tower.

Currently, the airport services Wings Air

Wings Air

Wings Abadi Airlines, usually shortened to Wings Air, is a scheduled commuter passenger airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia, operating out of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport...

 and Firefly

Firefly (airline)

FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, operating as Firefly, is a full service point to point carrier and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. Its head office is located on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. It claims to be the first community airline in Malaysia...

.Which operates flights from Pekanbaru

Pekanbaru

Pekanbaru is the capital of Riau, a province in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra. It has an area of 632.26 km² and a population of 903,902. Located on the Siak River, which drains to the Strait of Malacca...

 3 times per week by Wings Air and from Subang to Medan via Melaka 2 time per week by Firefly. Malacca has become a popular destination for health care and medical tourism from Indonesia, particularly Sumatera. This has greatly increased the passenger influx through the airport, with all three private hospitals in the city operating regular free shuttle-bus services to and from the airport.

The airport is also used as the base of the Malaysian flying academy

Malaysian Flying Academy

Malaysian flying academy , is a flying academy located at the Malacca International Airport, Malacca, Malaysia.The school started training students in 1982.-Training and facilities:...

 (MFA), which has been operating out of the airport since 1987.

Melaka International Airport ( Recognized by Melaka state government )

The airport had an earth breaking ceremony on April 1, 2006, and is currently undergoing an upgrade, due to be completed by 29 April 2009. The runway is being upgraded from 1372 x 37 meters, to 2045 x 45 meters, allowing Boeing 737

Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

 and Airbus A320

Airbus A320

The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...

 aircraft to take off. The terminal complex is being replaced by a new 7,000 square-meter terminal equipped with international-standard amenities. The control tower

Control tower

A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...

 is being replaced and complemented with advanced aeronautical devices. Both ends of the runway will contain facilities to guide night landing and better assure safety in bad weather conditions.

In March 2009, Mohd Ali Rustam announced that the runway extension will be completed by October 2009 after a loan of RM65 million was approved by the Federal Government.

On May 2009, the new terminal was officially opened. The new terminal could handle 1.5 million passengers annually as opposed to the 30,000 of the old terminal. The airport was visited by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on February 2010. In his visit, he officially renamed the airport Malacca International Airport..

Airlines and Destinations

Airlines	Destination	Frequency
Wings Air Wings Air Wings Abadi Airlines, usually shortened to Wings Air, is a scheduled commuter passenger airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia, operating out of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport...	Pekan Baru	3 times per week
Firefly Firefly (airline) FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, operating as Firefly, is a full service point to point carrier and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. Its head office is located on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. It claims to be the first community airline in Malaysia...  *	Medan, Subang	2 times per week

Firefly

Firefly (airline)

FlyFirefly Sdn Bhd, operating as Firefly, is a full service point to point carrier and a full subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines. Its head office is located on the grounds of Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. It claims to be the first community airline in Malaysia...

* routes SZB-MKZ-MES-MKZ-SZB

Traffic and Statistics

Overall Operational Statistics

Years	Passenger Movements	Aircraft Movements	Cargo Movements in Metric Tonnes	Cargo Movements in Kilograms
2003	31,108	57,636	214	471
2004	46,692	70,369	602	1,327
2005	27,683	77,504	370	815
2006	18,509	74,880	146	321
2007	27,209	64,936	219	219,348
2008	23,751	60,512	179	178,618
2009	18,576	54,160	179	178,618
2010	21,687	60,811	144	144

Gallery

External links

• LIST OF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN MALAYSIA RECOGNIZED BY MALAYSIA AIRPORT HOLDINGS BERHAD
• EZineer - A forum with regular updates on Expansion work progress
• Batu Berendam Airport, Malacca at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad