Sungai Petani Airport

Economic redundancy and land redevelopment. The airport was a small general aviation facility whose functions were made obsolete by the proximity and superior facilities of larger regional airports, specifically Penang International Airport (PEN) to the south and Sultan Abdul Halim Airport (AOR) in Alor Setar to the north. Improved ground transportation, particularly the North-South Expressway, also reduced the need for such a small local airstrip. The valuable land was subsequently redeveloped for commercial purposes.

The airport is permanently closed. The site has been completely repurposed. The original asphalt runway remains intact but is now used as a driving test circuit for a driving school (Institut Memandu). The runway surface is covered with painted lines for driving exercises, including slopes, three-point turns, and parking tests. The surrounding land has been developed with various commercial and light industrial buildings. The site is no longer recognizable as an active airfield and has no aviation facilities.

Sungai Petani Airport (MY-0053) was a small, privately operated general aviation airstrip. It never served as a commercial airport with scheduled passenger services. Its primary role was to support light aircraft for recreational flying, flight training, and potentially agricultural aviation for the surrounding plantations. It provided a basic aviation infrastructure for the Sungai Petani area before the region's transportation network became highly developed. It is important to distinguish this closed civilian airstrip from the separate, and still active, Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base also located in Sungai Petani (RMAF Station Sungai Petani).

There are no plans or prospects for reopening the airport. The site is now occupied by a driving school and other commercial enterprises, making a return to aviation activities unfeasible. Furthermore, the government's aviation development strategy for the state of Kedah is focused on the proposed new Kulim International Airport (KXP), a large-scale project designed to be a major cargo and logistics hub. The existence of this major project, along with the established airports in Penang and Alor Setar, renders the reopening of a small, obsolete airstrip like the former Sungai Petani Airport completely redundant.