Kota Kinabalu International Airport

About Kota Kinabalu International Airport

Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI) is the main airport for Sabah. Also known as KKIA, it is the second biggest airport in Malaysia and the biggest on the island of Borneo. In 2008, the airport handled 4.6 million passengers and 54,317 aircraft movements.

Arriving at Kota Kinabalu International Airport

You need to know that the airport has two terminals, each on either side of the runway. Most flights arrive at Terminal 1, on the south side of the airport, while low-cost carriers such as AirAsia use Terminal 2, on the north side of the airport. The airport is not far from downtown, just about 7 km. There is a shuttle bus service that takes passengers to Wawasan Centre in the city. You can also catch a taxi. Buy the coupon and then present it to the driver upon entering the taxi. The standard rate for a trip to the city is RM20.

History of Kota Kinabalu International Airport

The history of Kota Kinabalu International Airport began as a military airfield. It was badly damanged by Allied bombings during the Second World War. A new terminal building was constructed in 1957. By 1963, the runway was extended to 1921 meters in length, so that the airport can accept the Comet 4 aircraft.

In the 1970's, a new terminal building was built on the other side of the runway. Thereafter the original terminal building became known as old airport. Further expansion carried out in 2006 saw the two terminal buildings being renamed Terminal 1, for the new terminal building, and Terminal 2, for the original terminal building.

Terminal 1 of KKIA is the main terminal building. It is located to the south side of the airport, and reached via Jalan Putatan in Petagas. The terminal has 12 gates, 5 aerobridges and 4 baggage claim belts.

Terminal 2, which was the original terminal, is approached from Jalan Mat Salleh in Tanjung Aru. It is used mostly for low-cost carriers. AirAsia is expected to use this terminal for its flights to Guilin, Xiamen, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Kota Kinabalu International Airport Location Map

View Kota Kinabalu International Airport in a larger map

Kota Kinabalu International Airport
Author: Oscark (cc-by-3.0)

Malaysia Hotel Room Price Checker

Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?

The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!

Find a hotel

New York City
Bangkok
Amsterdam

Guests:

Rooms:

Great Travel Deals Wego.com

Flight Checker

Flying somewhere? Say you're going to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Penang or Kuching to Singapore, which airline gives you the best rate for the date and time of your trip? Instead of visiting each airline website one by one, use our Flight Checker on the right to find out.

Just enter you trip details: where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.

Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.

Return to Exploring Malaysia homepage

My message introducing God to all the world: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TIM

Exploring Malaysia is researched and written by Timothy Tye. Content and articles in Exploring Malaysia are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, Exploring Malaysia disclaims responsibility for its use. All pages may be printed out for your own personal, non-commercial use. Photographs appearing in Exploring Malaysia are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs not credited to a third party belong to Timothy Tye and may not be reused in any form unless you are first given permission. Write in to inquire if interested. Third party photographs are governed by their respective licenses.

Contact Tim at the following email address: