Kota Airpot 

The airport first began as a military airfield built by the Japanese occupying forces during World-War II. It is also known then as Jesselton Airfield. Towards the end of the war, it suffered severe bombings by Allied Forces until the surrender of the Japanese army in 1945.

After the war, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) of North Borneo (now Sabah) took charge of the operations and maintenance of the airport. In 1957, the original grass strip runway was resurfaced with bitumen material and a new terminal was built. By 1959, the runway was extended to 1,593 metres long to enable the operation of Malaysia Airways Viscount aircrafts. In 1963, there was the re-enforcement and further expansion of the runway to 1,921 meters long to cater for Comet 4 operations. Commercial flights and passenger arrivals gradually increased and a larger terminal building was needed to accommodate this increase.

In 1969 a British consultancy firm was appointed to formulate a Master Plan for a phased and organised development of KKIA from 1970 until 2000 and years beyond. The master plan was submitted to the government with the following recommendations:

* To reinforce and expand the runway distance to 2,987 meters long to cater for Boeing Jet 707 and 747 operations.
* To build a new terminal complex and parallel taxiway which connects to the runway.
* To provide navigation equipments, communication facilities and a modern light system for the runway.