Airport review: Penang International Airport

Penang International Airport is Malaysia's third busiest.Credit: iStock

THE AIRPORT

Penang International Airport (PEN)

THE FLIGHT

MH1137 to Kuala Lumpur

THE ARRIVAL

Malaysia's third busiest airport – after Kuala Lumpur and Kotu Kinabalu – is 16 kilometres from the centre of George Town, the main city on the island. In peak hour, budget 30 to 40 minutes for the journey, but it's a swift 15 minutes at dawn with my ageing boy-racer at the wheel.

THE LOOK

Utilitarian grey: Penang's airport is overdue for an upgrade. It should have taken place during COVID-19, but has been postponed until 2025. It's seriously needed. The early morning light is not kind to the building, which should have been upgraded to double capacity to 12 million travellers a year. Instead of a stylish marketplace echoing dynamic Penang, you'll get a few tired chain F&B options, although the essentials, such as a newsagent, are present.

SECURITY

With the airport echoing at my footfalls, security is swift. At the time of writing, Malaysia was still masked up, but masks are now not compulsory in the airport.

CHECK-IN

I'm on this red-eye flight down to KL to make my connecting international flight onwards to Melbourne and the counters are very, very quiet. Check-in is painless at such an ungodly hour, and everyone is subdued.

FOOD AND DRINK

Line Clear Bistro is a local institute that's been serving up nasi kandar – a Penang specialty of rice, curry and sides – since 1940. Its airport outpost is just starting to open when I pass through at 5.30am, though my Penang accommodation, Prestige Hotel, sent me off with an enormous bag of pastries and sandwiches. For an emergency coffee, Starbucks has outlets on both land and airside, with Malaysian staple chain Nooodles (that's not a typo) dishing up Penang curry mee. If you have the ability, far better to eat beforehand in the gourmand utopia that is George Town.

RETAIL THERAPY

As an international airport, duty-free shopping is available, though if you're on the early-morning connecting flight to KL and on to Australia, there's precious little open, and KLIA has more options.

PASSING TIME

If you're dropped at the airport early, a row of red leather, coin-operated massage seats, titled Rest N Go, help while away the time. Be warned, though, the raucous, tinny airport announcements will steal any serenity.

THE VERDICT

Servicing one of Malaysia's most interesting cities, there's absolutely no reason to hang around Penang airport.

OUR RATING OUT OF FIVE

★★★

Belinda Jackson travelled as a guest of Malaysia Airlines.