Kota Kinabalu: The Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) experienced a power interruption on Wednesday.When contacted, KKIA Senior Airport Manager Sunif Naiman only answered “Power interruption”. “I am not sure. Chargeman are on-site to fix the problem,” he said when asked how long the power was down.
He said the airfield ground lights were not impacted as it is running on generator set.
When contacted at 8 pm, via the KKIA website’s contact number, the airport’s ground staff manning the phones said the lights had been turned back on.
The personnel, however, was unable to provide any additional information.
Attempts to obtain information from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd were similarly unsuccessful, with a query made at 8.22 pm going unanswered as of press time.
This is not the first time the KKIA has experienced power interruption. In 2018, the International Airport was hit by a blackout for about an hour from 6 pm. The runway lights were not affected.
The cause was believed due to a cable fault In 2013, the KKIA was forced to close for the night after the runway lights failed, cancelling or rescheduling several arriving and outgoing flights and leaving many people stranded.