Penang, "the Pearl of the Orient" has been on the tourist route-map for decades, and is now fast-growing as an industrial centre. With the combined attractions of tourism and business, Penang airport has been upgraded to cater to the increasing traffic demand.

In 2007, the airport handled more than 3.1 million passengers, with 39,265 aircraft movements.  It also handled 208,582 metric tones of cargo in 2007.  A new cargo centre was opened for operations in 2000 with a capacity to handle 360,000 tonnes of cargo.