KUCHING – Kuching International Airport is expected to be closed until further notice today for arrival and departure flights.

This was due to an incident last night when an AirAsia flight AK5218 from Kuala Lumpur, upon landing on runway 25 at 10.02pm during heavy rain, skidded and veered of the runway at Kuching International Airport. All passengers were evacuated safely from the aircraft.

Actions to remove aircraft, together with AirAsia Engineering Team, are currently undertaken but the removal works are currently hampered by the continuous heavy rain since last night.

Only one flight was released for departure from Kuching International at 7.30am today, flight MH2505 to Kuala Lumpur.

At the time of release, the affected departure flights are:-

AirAsia 

1. AK6036 departure to Kota Kinabalu at 6.10am
2. AK5203 departure to Kuala Lumpur at 6.15am
3. AK6562 departure to Bintulu at 6.20am
4. AK6526 departure to Bintulu at 8.35am
5. AK5201 departure to Kuala Lumpur at 9.35am
6. AK6673 departure to Singapore at 9.50am
7. AK5843 departure to Johor Bharu at 10.30am
8. AK6546 departure to Miri at 11.10am
9. AK5205 departure to Kuala Lumpur at 11.55am
10. AK6505 departure to Penang at 12.20pm
11. AK5207 departure to Kuala Lumpur at 1.55pm

Malaysia Airlines

1. MH2802 departure to Miri at 7.00am
2. MH2290 departure to Bintulu at 7.20am
3. MH2266 departure to Sibu at 10.30am
4. MH643 departure to Singapore at 10.40am
5. MH2507 departure to Kuala Lumpur at 11.05am
6. MH2653 departure to Johor Bharu at 12.05pm
7. MH2564 departure to Miri at 12.35pm
8. MH2513 departure to Kuala Lumpur at 12.45pm

MASWings

1. MH3692 departure to Sibu at 6.00am
2. MH3904 departure to Bintulu/Miri at 6.40am
3. MH3690 departure to Sibu at 7.00am
4. MH3711 departure to Tanjung Manis at 7.25am
5. MH3411 to departure Mukah at 9.10am

Passengers are advised to contact their airline’s offices to enquire about their flight status departing or arriving at Kuching International Airport.

Malaysia Airports is currently working closely with AirAsia and other related agencies at the airport to expedite the resumption of flight operations at the airport.