Kuala Lumpur International Airport Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur

The KLIA control tower and part of the airport

IATA: KUL
ICAO: WMKK

Summary

Airport type

Public

Owner

Government of Malaysia

Operator

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad

Serves

Greater Klang Valley

Location

Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia

Hub for

AirAsia
AirAsiaX
Malaysia Airlines
Malindo Air
MASkargo

Time zone

MST (UTC+08:00)

Elevation AMSL

70 ft / 21 m

Map

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Runway

Runway	Length		Surface
Runway	m	ft	Surface
14L/32R	4,019	13,186	Concrete
14R/32L	4,000	13,123	Concrete
15/33	4,000	13,123	Concrete

Statistics (2013)

Passenger movements	47,498,157 ( 19.1%)
Airfreight movements in tonnes	680,982 ( 1.2%)
Aircraft movements	326,678 ( 15.3%)

Source: AIP Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is Malaysia's main international airport. It is one of the biggest airports in Southeast Asia and around the world. You can find it in the Sepang District of Selangor, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur city center. It serves the large area known as the Greater Klang Valley.

KLIA is the busiest and largest airport in Malaysia. In 2018, it served nearly 60 million passengers. It also handled over 700,000 tonnes of cargo and almost 400,000 aircraft movements. This makes it the 23rd-busiest airport globally for passenger traffic.

The airport is managed by Malaysia Airports (MAHB). It is a major hub for several airlines. These include Malaysia Airlines, MASkargo, AirAsia, AirAsia X, Malindo Air, flyGlobal, UPS Airlines, and AsiaCargo Express.

Building a New Airport: The History of KLIA
- What Happened to the Old Airport?
- How KLIA Was Built: The Big Plan
Images for kids
See also

Building a New Airport: The History of KLIA

The idea for Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) began on June 1, 1993. At that time, the government, led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, decided that the old airport, Subang International Airport, was too small for future needs. They needed a bigger, more modern airport.

KLIA was planned as part of the Multimedia Super Corridor. This was a big project to develop technology and business in Malaysia. The main architect who designed the new airport terminal was Kisho Kurokawa from Japan.

What Happened to the Old Airport?

After KLIA was finished, Terminal 1 of Subang Airport was taken down. Malaysia Airports decided to change the remaining Terminal 3. They turned it into a special airport for smaller propeller planes and charter flights. This area is now surrounded by homes and businesses.

How KLIA Was Built: The Big Plan

The land for KLIA is huge, covering 100 square kilometers (39 square miles). It used to be farmland. The plan for KLIA was very ambitious, with three main stages. The goal was to have three runways and two terminals, each with two satellite terminals.

The first stage involved building the main terminal and one satellite terminal. This allowed the airport to handle 25 million passengers. It also included two full-service runways. In this first stage, the airport had 60 gates where planes could connect directly to the terminal. It also had 20 remote parking spots and 80 places for aircraft to park. There were also four maintenance hangars and fire stations.

The second stage was designed to increase the airport's capacity to 35 million passengers per year. This stage is mostly finished. The third stage aims to make the airport big enough for 100 million passengers every year.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport officially opened on June 27, 1998. It was opened by the 10th king of Malaysia, Tuanku Ja'afar of Negeri Sembilan. This opening happened just a week before Hong Kong International Airport opened. KLIA was ready just in time for the 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Malaysia.