RMAF Kuala Lumpur Air Base
RMAF Kuala Lumpur Sungai Besi Air Base Simpang Airport TUDM Kuala Lumpur Pangkalan Udara Sungai Besi Lapangan Terbang Simpang | |||||||||||
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AMSL 111 ft / 34 m | | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 03°06′41″N 101°42′10″E / 3.11139°N 101.70278°E | ||||||||||
Maps | |||||||||||
Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory in Malaysia | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Simpang Air Base | |
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Part of Royal Malaysian Air Force | |
Type | Air Force Base |
Site information | |
Condition | Military Airport |
Site history | |
Built | 1952 |
In use | 1952-2018 |
Battles/wars | Malayan Emergency |
RMAF Kuala Lumpur (ICAO: WMKF) was an air base in Kuala Lumpur. It is also known as Sungai Besi Air Base, Simpang Airport, Old Airport.[2]
History
It served as the main airport for Kuala Lumpur from 1952 to 1965 under the name Kuala Lumpur International Airport,
Formerly known as
The Royal Selangor Flying Club (Malay: Kelab Penerbangan Diraja Selangor) also flies from Simpang Airport. The four Cessna 172N Skyhawk aircraft belonging to the club are based at this airport.[4]
The airport was supposed to be demolished to make way for a housing estate, but that plan was cancelled and the airport is still used for air force flights. There had been non-fatal[citation needed] accidents before, involving single engine airplanes, at the surrounding roads and flyovers which are usually very busy during rush hours.
The airport also housed the RMAF Museum, which was the only aviation museum in Malaysia but ceased operation for the construction of the
The airport has ceased operation as of 16 March 2018.[6] The air base will be relocated to Sendayan in Negeri Sembilan.
See also
References
- ^ AIP Malaysia: WMKF - RMAF Kuala Lumpur/Simpang at Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia
- ^ Royal Selangor Flying Club: Location
- ^ KLIA: Phases and History Archived 2015-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Royal Selangor Flying Club: Fleet
- ^ The Star online: Museums draw crowd during holidays
- ^ RMAF bids farewell to Sungai Besi base