KOTA BARU: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has agreed to upgrading the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in Pengkalan Chepa by extending the runway by another 400 metres.
He said this was requested by Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Nassuruddin in their meeting today.
"To enable the airport to become an international airport, the Federal government has agreed to add 400m more of the airport's runway.
"The first phase of the airport project has completed and the Menteri Besar has thanked the government for that," he said at the Madani Hari Raya open house here tonight.
Besides Mohd Nassuruddin, also present at the open house were Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, and Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
Anwar, who arrived at the airport at 3.20pm today, spent about 30 minutes to visit the facilities at the airport as well as meet and greet the people in the terminal.
The RM440 million the airport's expansion and upgrading project aims to enhance facilities and increase the airport terminal's capacity from 1.5 million to four million passengers per year.
The new terminal is equipped with over 20 flight counters, an elevated car park, a dedicated taxi driver route, a fire and rescue station, a larger apron area, and a cashless operating system for the convenience of passengers.