Kota Kinabalu Airport
Lasting Impressions....
"As a foreign passenger sleeping over in the airport I found that I was treated with curiosity rather than being questioned. " - Sean26
"Some of the people working also took me along to tanjung beach for dinner. " - Sean26
"I slept pretty well, except for two small children who started running around, screaming, at two o'clock in the night!" - Felix
Good times
by Sean26
Stayed overnight at KK airport. More for the fun of it than by necessity. KK is cheap and anyone that wants to can pay 100rm for a 3 star hotel.
There are two terminals at the airport, one for fullservice airlines, the nice one, and one for low cost airlines the less nice one.
I would recommend people to stay in terminal one the full service terminal even if they depart from terminal 2. Its a 20 minute walk between the terminals but if you plan to spend the night its well worth it, perhaps not if you climbed MT Kinabalu the day before but...
In terminal one you can find padded benches without armrests that are great to sleep on. the toilets are clean and being well looked after. Both malay toilets and western. Staff and security walks around making sure no outsiders can come into the airport. Flights end late in the evening and the airport starts over again around 05 so its not a long time that the terminal is empty.
As a foreign passenger sleeping over in the airport I found that I was treated with curiosity rather than being questioned. Borneo people are extremely friendly and I was even offered to enter the lounge and sleep there during the quiet hours.
Some of the people working also took me along to tanjung beach for dinner. Great local food at a very popular place.
Its 10 minutes walk from terminal 2 and on a great beach. In the evening there are lots of cheap food and sweets made here and many of the locals frequent the place.
Its great for anyone on a budget, costs under rm 10 for a big meal with drinks and the food is delicious. Cooked fresh so no need to worry about what it will do to the stomach either.
I would recommend KK as an airport to sleep in if you are on a very tight budget or just wish to do it for the fun of it. Its actually not a bad place at all, the only minus is the rather loud announcements and the fact that during my time half the airport was a construction site.
Not a bad place, but not great either
by Felix
It was my last day in Southeast Asia and did not care about being tired the following day, so I decided to sleep at KK international airport. Terminal 2 (Air Asia), at least, is in a building and I didn't get kicked out. It was quite comfortable, actually, the seats are relatively flat and cushioned, no arm handles. And there are lots of chairs, so you can bed yourself away from others even when there are still passengers waiting for departure. I slept pretty well, except for two small children who started running around, screaming, at two o'clock in the night! But I don't think they belong to the inventory of the airport for scaring away poor backpackers, so there is a chance you will be able to sleep through the night undisturbed. Just make sure you bring good headphones, because the announcements are ****** loud, and at every "don't leave your luggage unattended" I almost fell from my seat.
If you climbed Mt. Kinabalu the previous day (as I did), be prepared to wake up with your legs hurting like hell, but that's probably due to the climb. As it would hurt anyway, I don't think it's a problem sleeping there after the climb, and sleeping in a proper bed won't ease the pain.
I hope my review will lead to more people spending the night at kk airport.
Um, you may want to rethink sleeping in this place
so, just how bad is this airport?
Airport Guide
Here is some information that we've picked out of from your reviews. Be sure to read the reviews on the next page for the most up-to-date info:
- mosquitoes
- seems to shut down at midnight
- padded benches without armrests in terminal 2
