Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport Lapangan Terbang Sultan Ahmad Shah
IATA: KUA ICAO: WMKD
Summary
Airport type	Public/Military
Owner	Government of Malaysia
Operator	Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad
Serves	Kuantan
Location	Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
Time zone	MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL	55 ft / 17 m
Coordinates	03°46′11″N 103°12′34″E / 3.76972°N 103.20944°E / 3.76972; 103.20944
Maps
Pahang state in Malaysia
KUA /WMKD Location in Kuantan , Pahang , Peninsular Malaysia Show map of Peninsular Malaysia KUA /WMKD KUA /WMKD (Malaysia) Show map of Malaysia KUA /WMKD KUA /WMKD (Southeast Asia) Show map of Southeast Asia KUA /WMKD KUA /WMKD (Asia) Show map of Asia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 18/36 2,804 9,199 Asphalt
Statistics (2020)
Passenger 71,877 ( 84.3%) Airfreight (tonnes) 3.0 ( 7.9%) Aircraft movements 1,117 ( 72.6%)
[1] AIP Malaysia[2]

Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport (IATA: KUA, ICAO: WMKD) is an airport that serves Kuantan, a city in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. The airport is located 15 km from the city. In 2009, the airport handled 226,912 passengers on 3,110 flights, though the airport is able to handle over one million passengers annually.^[3] In 2008, Taiwan and Tourism Malaysia had co-operated that there were 23 charter flights directly from Taipei to Kuantan Airport, this condition had made Kuantan Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport the first airport in East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia that received international flights. Passengers have to walk from the aircraft to the arrival hall.

Co-located with the airport is RMAF Kuantan, housing 15 Squadron (BAE Hawk) and 17 Squadron (MiG-29) of the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

Airlines and destinations

Traffic and statistics

Annual passenger numbers and aircraft statistics

Year	Passengers handled	Passenger % change	Cargo (tonnes)	Cargo % change	Aircraft movements	Aircraft % change
2003	351,179		64		4,054
2004	349,375	0.5	64		4,088	0.8
2005	298,184	14.6	75	17.2	3,757	8.1
2006	273,005	8.4	109	45.3	2,973	20.9
2007	262,486	3.8	103	5.5	3,487	17.3
2008	259,529	1.1	70	32.0	3,551	1.8
2009	226,912	12.6	70		3,110	12.4
2010	220,878	2.7	49	30.0	2,802	9.9
2011	248,846	12.7	38	22.4	3,452	23.2
2012	280,074	12.5	57	50.5	3,613	4.7
2013	317,440	13.3	86	51.2	3,663	1.4
2014	314,130	1.0	46	46.9	3,911	6.8
2015	292,109	7.0	21	55.2	4,174	6.7
2016	247,757	15.2	15	27.3	3,493	16.3
2017	241,314	2.6	25	65.3	2,893	17.2
2018	258,816	7.3	13	47.4	3,013	4.1
2019	394,599	52.5	2.8	78.4	4,082	35.5
2020	71,877	84.3	3.0	7.9	1,117	72.6
Source: Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad[6]

Busiest flights out of Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Airport by frequency as of September 2023

Rank	Destinations	Frequency (weekly)	Airlines	Note
1	Kuala Lumpur	17	MH
2	Singapore	3	TR

Passenger facilities

The airport has an outdoor car park, a taxi stand, several small shops, an arrival hall and a departure hall. The front part of the building housing the shops and the check in counters are not air conditioned.

Proposed Relocation

Proposals for relocating the airport has been recorded since 2015, with early suggestions for it to be either located nearer to the coast at Penor, or possibly around the same area of its original location. The operational capacity of the current airport is severely limited, mainly due to the nature of the airport being co-located with the RMAF Kuantan (which poses risks to national security) and also constraints of being surrounded by residential areas, both of which make it difficult to increase the frequency of flights and its capacity for expansion. Adding to this, the airport infrastructure is outdated, lacking any jet bridges and small, insufficient for larger crowds.

Following this, there are also demands to establish a regional hub for international flights in the East Coast Peninsular Region, as stated in the "Rancangan Fizikal Negara ke-4".^[7]

The Menteri Besar of Pahang, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail announced in July 2021 of the development of a RM 10.5 billion aerospace city, integrating a new international airport with air cargo and MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) capabilities. ^[8] This project is to be headed by Pahang Corporation Sdn Bhd (Pahang Corp) on an area measuring 5,024 ha in Chendor, adjacent to the ECRL railway station at Cherating, which is expected to be completed by early 2027. The development of this airport is expected to coincide with the establishment of Kuantan Port as an international logistics and manufacturing hub. This will also allow the return of full control of the air force base to the RMAF.

An MoU was signed between Pahang Corp, Gading Group Sdn Bhd and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) in 12th of July 2022.^[9] Construction is expected to commence in 2024 and the airport is expected to begin operations in 2026. ^[10]