| Sempang Airport Kuala Lumpur Old Airport RMAF Kuala Lumpur Simpang Air Force Base Lapangan Terbang Simpang Lapangan Terbang Kuala Lumpur TUDM Kuala Lumpur |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: none – ICAO: WMKF | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | Royal Malaysian Air Force | ||
| Location | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 111 ft / 34 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 04/22 | 1,199 | 3,933 | Tarmac |
| Sources: AIP Malaysia[1] and DAFIF[2][3] | |||
Sempang Airport (ICAO: WMKF) is an airport in Kuala Lumpur. It is also known as TUDM Kuala Lumpur, Old Airport or Sempang Air Force Base.[4]
It served as the main airport for Kuala Lumpur from 1952 to 1965 under the name Kuala Lumpur International Airport,[5] until the main airport was moved to Subang International Airport. It was the first airport to serve Kuala Lumpur and currently remains as the only airport to be located within the boundaries of Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory.
Today it is used as the Royal Malaysian Air Force (Malay: Tentera Udara DiRaja Malaysia), Royal Malaysian Police Air Wing and the air unit of Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department base. The Royal Malaysian Air Force Museum is also located at this airport.
The Royal Selangor Flying Club (Malay: Kelab Penerbangan Di-Raja Selangor) also flies from Sempang Airport. The 4 Cessna 172N Skyhawk aircraft belonging from the club is based at this airport.[6]
The fate of this airport for the future remains unknown. As the urbanization of Kuala Lumpur city continues to expand, large tracts of land like this one has become a commodity. There had been non-fatal accidents before, involving single prop airplanes, at the surrounding roads and flyovers which are usually very busy during rush hours.
On May 2011, the Prime Minister annonuced that a new Air Force base will be built in Sendayan, 14 km from Seremban that will replace the Sungai Besi Airport. The Sungai Besi airport will cease operations by end 2011.[7]