Kuching airport reopens - The Kuching International Airport was reopened at 9pm Tuesday, after being closed following an incident...

Published: Tuesday January 11, 2011 MYT 10:04:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday January 11, 2011 MYT 10:20:44 PM
Kuching airport reopens

KUCHING: The Kuching International Airport was reopened at 9pm Tuesday, after being closed following an incident involving an AirAsia aircraft Monday night.

The first aircraft to land after the airport reopened was MASwings Flight 3807 from Bintulu, which arrived at 9.45pm.

The second arrival was MASwings Flight 3155 from Kota Kinabalu/Sibu, at 10.10pm.

The first flight out was AirAsia AK6540 to Miri, which departed at 10pm.

It is also learnt that MAS has cancelled all its flight for the day and will resume flights on Wednesday.

However, AirAsia was expected to operate 16 flights into Kuching that had been cancelled earlier.

A Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) spokesman said the closure had affected some 80 flights, both incoming and outgoing, as at 9pm.

The airport was closed after an AirAsia aircraft skidded and veered off the airport's runway 25 when it tried to land during heavy rain.

Earlier Tuesday, MAB corporate communications senior general manager Datuk Azmi Murad said airport workers managed to remove the aircraft from the grassy area at 6pm and moved it onto the runway.

"We are now moving the aircraft very slowly to the hangar. Workers have also inspected the runway, while others will be replacing the runway lights that were damaged," said Azmi.

All passengers were evacuated safely from the aircraft.

Efforts to remove the aircraft had been hampered by continuous heavy rains.

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