Penang International Airport

The building

The Penang International Airport is Malaysia’s third busiest airport located a 16 km south of George Town. The airport serves a large region of Malaysia and provides extensive links with major cities across South East Asia and beyond. George Town is Penang region’s capital city. In 2009 some 3.3 million visitors used Penang International Airport and in 2010 this had already increased to nearly 4.2 million passengers.

The existing passenger terminal building accommodates two floors. Arrivals area is located in the ground floor where as the departures area is located in the first floor and a duty-free shopping area is located beside the departure concourse.

The expansion increased the terminal’s area from 27,500m² to 52,000m² and also increased the passenger handling capacity of the terminal from the existing 1,300 per hour to 2,000 per hour.

The approach

Detailed computer evacuation simulations were conducted for the entire airport building to determine effective occupant egress design was achieved and compatible with airport functionality and security measures. Comprehensive structural analyses were undertaken utilising simulated fire conditions in order to predict the performance of the non-protected structural steel elements.