RMAF Kuala Lumpur Air Base

RMAF Kuala Lumpur Sungai Besi Air Base Simpang Airport TUDM Kuala Lumpur Pangkalan Udara Sungai Besi Lapangan Terbang Simpang
Sungai Besi Airport terminal on August 1, 1956
IATA: none ICAO: WMKF
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Ministry of Defence (Malaysia)
Operator	Royal Malaysian Air Force
Location	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Time zone	MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL	111 ft / 34 m
Coordinates	03°06′41″N 101°42′10″E / 3.11139°N 101.70278°E / 3.11139; 101.70278
Maps
Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory in Malaysia
WMKF Location in Kuala Lumpur, Peninsular Malaysia Show map of Kuala Lumpur WMKF WMKF (Peninsular Malaysia) Show map of Peninsular Malaysia WMKF WMKF (Malaysia) Show map of Malaysia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 04/22 1,199 3,934 Tarmac (closed)
Sources: AIP Malaysia[1]

Simpang Air Base
RAF Kuala Lumpur
Part of Royal Malaysian Air Force
Type	Air Force Base
Site information
Condition	Military Airport
Site history
Built	1930
In use	1930-2018
Battles/wars	Malayan Emergency

RMAF Kuala Lumpur (ICAO: WMKF), also known as the Sungai Besi Air Base and Simpang Airport^[2] was a key airport in the early years of Malaysia's aviation history. Established in the 1930s, it was the primary gateway for both domestic and international flights in Kuala Lumpur for several decades. The airport played a significant role in connecting Malaya to global destinations, with its facilities progressively upgraded to accommodate increasing air traffic.

In 1965, Sungai Besi Airport was replaced by Subang International Airport (now Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport) as Kuala Lumpur's main airport. It was subsequently repurposed as a military facility, renamed the RMAF Kuala Lumpur Air Base, and became a vital installation for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The base housed military operations, training facilities, and the RMAF Museum, which showcased Malaysia's aviation heritage. In 2018, the airport ceased all operations, making way for the Bandar Malaysia project, a large-scale mixed-use development set to transform the site into a modern urban hub.