S V Choong
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Sourced from kiat.net http://www.kiat.net/
HISTORY OF KLIA - A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
1933
An Imperial Airways' Armstrong Whitley Atlanta aircraft 'Aurora', which landed at Sungai Besi Airfield, Kuala Lumpur, was probably the first commercial aircraft of an international service to use the aerodrome. The Sungai Besi Airfield (originally an old tin tailing mine covered by grass) was one of the two airstrips located in Selangor, the other being at Port Sweetenham (now Port Klang).
1936
Improvement of the Sungai Besi Airfield which was commissioned as an all-purpose landing ground, ".... a conditioned area 600 yards by 800 yards oriented approximately North East-South West " and was licensed for light and medium aircraft "up to a gross weight of 5,500 lbs."
1 Aug 1948
Expansion of the Kuala Lumpur Airport at Sungai Besi.
(The Terminal building was for many years an atap shed. Communications equipment were unreliable and often aircraft landed without traffic control! Biggest aircraft used then was DC-3).
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (1948) at Sungai Besi
Late 1959
Proposal to construct the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at Subang mooted.
30 Aug 1965
Official opening of the RM52 million Kuala Lumpur International Airport at Subang by Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Dipertuan Agong, Tuanku Syed Putra Ibni al Marhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (1965) at Subang
1976
Introduction of Primary Radar for air traffic control in Kuala Lumpur.
3 Apr 1982
Launching ceremony for the first MAS B747 at Terminal 2, Subang-Kuala Lumpur by the Prime Minister.
16 Apr 1982
Terminal 1 Subang-Kuala Lumpur closed for renovation.
1 Jun 1983
Terminal 1 Subang-Kuala Lumpur opened for operations.
1985
Interim development of Subang-Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1 to accommodate larger aircraft.
1Dec 1989
Reopening of Terminal 2, Subang-Kuala Lumpur International Airport for domestic services.
Jul 1991
Announcement of the proposal plan to construct the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at Sepang.
29 May 1993
Establishment of Kuala Lumpur International Airport Berhad (KLIA Bhd), a corporate body wholly-owned by the Government to oversee and manage the construction of the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport at Sepang, Selangor.
16 Dec 1993
Opening of Terminal 3, Subang-Kuala Lumpur International Airport and closing of Terminal 2 for refurbishment (expected to be ready by the end of 1994).
(On completion of the Subang-Kuala Lumpur Interim Development, Terminal 1 will be designated for international traffic; Terminal 2, Singapore shuttle; and Terminal 3, domestic).
1 Jan 1994
Formation of Malaysia Airports (Niaga) Sdn. Bhd. (MAN), a subsidiary of MAB, to participate in duty free retail operations at Subang-Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
15 Jan 1995
Reopening of Terminal 2 for Kuala Lumpur / Singapore shuttle flights by MAS and SIA.
27 Jun 1998 - KLIA at Sepang opens
KL International Airport, Sepang was lauched by the King, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Ja'afar. It was a moment of reckoning as the new airport, sparkling like a fairyland and visible from as far as 15kms away, beckoned the 1500 spectators who came to witness its opening.
16 Sept 1998
The Bunga Raya Complex, named after Malaysia's national flower, was opened by the Yang DiPertuan Agong, Tuanku Ja'afar. Built at a cost of RM80 million, the complex boasts a reception hall, private VVIP suites, a multi-function room and a media briefing room.
19 Sept 1998
Transport Minister Dato' Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik, officially launched the second runway at the KL International Airport. With this RM 136 million runway in full operation, KLIA now offers simultaneous landings and take-offs, thus speeding up the growth for tourism and commerce in this country.
Before the Advent of the second runway, KLIA could only accommodate 40 to 45 aircraft per hour. Now it can handle 65 to 67 planes on a segregated mode, in which one runway is used solely for arrivals, the other for departures and approximately 90 to 100 planes in mixed mode every hour. This runway is 4000m long and 60 m wide and allows for all types of aircraft without payload restriction. As it is fitted with state-or-the-art aeronautical ground lighting, aircraft can land in all weather conditions.
As with all KLIA endeavours, it is envisioned that the latest service will establish the airport as a regional leader in air transportation.
20 Sept 1998
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip arrived via the modern KL International Airport for the Kuala Lumpur 98 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony. She was one of the first guests of the new Bunga Raya VVIP Complex.
The story continues.....
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Yes Rozhan, Subang was opened in 1965 according to my book "Post Merdeka Architecture of Malaysia". Thanks for the info, many of the architects at that time was British expatriates. Now these architecture firm may not exist anymore.
Largest Airport in South East Asia, wow
That is of course before the opening of Changi in the early 1980s. By the way, what happened to the Pakistan 707 that was written off at Subang? Was there any kind of incident?
I have also seen photos of MSA DeHavilland Comet parked at Subang. Did the Comet ever use Simpang as a port of call?
Subang Airport photos:
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YJ, as far as I know this plane was on loan from Airbus. MAS' Airbus A330-300 is PW powered and there was initially a bit of a problem with PW powered A330. The first one crashed when it was running a test flight, hence the PW powered A330 delivery schedule was affected. Thai had their's delivered late too. This Air-Inter A330 is GE powered, was on loan to MAS to get their crews trained up. Due to the problem with A330 delivery, MAS had to leased in the MD-11 to fill up the schedules. This is as much as I knew. First A330-300 (9M-MKA) arrived to MAS around 1995
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Okay, when was Subang actually built? I remember it was 1963 or 1968, isn't that correct?
When was T2 and T3 built?\
Please keep the photos coming!
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So is China Airlines going to get any 777s at all?
Always heard about comments from Taiwanese friends that EVA Air is a better airline than CAL.
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If I saw a gwai low in Kebaya, I will get off the plane straight away thinking "I must be on the wrong plane!"
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It is very disturbing to learn that they do not serve meal on inter-Borneo flights on their 737 or F-27. I have been flying since I was 3 years old! My first trip was to the state capital, Kota Kinabalu and then off to KUL (Subang). I can't remember that they serve any meal even for flights in the early 80s. Although they do serve meal between East and West Malaysia. But the portion of the meal was bigger back then if you hop on to the A300 and DC-10 flights. I don't think there were many 737-2H6 Adv flights running between East and West Malaysia. I remember the ginger orange sweets and boxes of crayons and drawing books too
If you want to pin down 9M-AQL for certain, you need the MSN and serial number perhaps. Surprised to learn that some of them still flying. I really like the noise of the 737-200 engines eventhough they were noisy as hell without the hushkit.
Why did they get rid off the 737-3H6Fs? Was that because there weren't too many newspaper anymore to make it commercially viable? Radzi, you were like sending the tortoise to concentration camps to get exterminated by the hungry Chinese
No offence intended... Have u ever flown the 737-5H6 by the way? -
Oh by the way, does anyone still remember the old balcony/corridor around the terminal? One can exit the terminal and walk along the corridor and the glass facade to view planes? The balcony/corridor almost cover the entire perimeter of the building, but obviously they wouldn't let you complete the walk around the perimeter of the building.
If the perimeter balcony exists today, this will be a heaven for spotters.
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Many thanks for the info guys! That solved my mystery about the Boeing 707 which I have been waiting for an answer for at least a decade.
So is Terminal 3 still operational? Which airline is T3 serving? I suppose the latest SZB control tower is in T3?
I really miss Subang T1 very much, although I am not a fan of the longish layout of the T2 which you had to catch buses to reach the a/c. If you guys look carefully at the structure of Subang, there is a similarity of structure as it is in KLIA. The architect, Kurokawa, may have used Subang as a precedent.
Now that you guys mentioned it, I do remember the polka dots of Subang and the black balustrade (railing as referred by you guys) and of course the spiral ramp at the centre of the airside. So people literally walk down the ramp to take their plane. I remember that the spiral ramp is very much the architectural feature of the building. But sadly it has taken so much space which they had to take down. But I suppose you guys must have seen the remnants of the spiral ramp. Remember when Subang T1 was renovated with 2 wings, one to left the other one to the right. The central 'building' still had some ramp leading down to the ground, it wasn't entirely demolised as far as I can remember. That certainly brought back the fond memories of the old days.
Do you guys like the renaming of Subang to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport? I personally think it is pointless unless it is named from the beginning! Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah is just too long for a name. By the way, which state was he from (my guess is Selangor, correct?)? Why was his named used on the airport instead of the other Sultans? Is he of any importance?
Yes Denny, I stayed at the Airport hotel next to Subang T1 when I returned from New Zealand at the end of 1991. It was my first time to take MAS' DC-10-30 which had to make a stop at Brisbane between Auckland and Kuala Lumpur. Had to stay in the airport hotel (which was not a great hotel but very expensive almost M$300 back then).
Rozhan, your photos actually bring back some nostalgic and fond memories. I like the 2nd phase of the 1st livery of MAS better, as the two cheatlines carried all the way back to the tail and with larger and more visible MALAYSIAN letters. Also the three holer DC-10 carries a "m a s" letters on engine 2, which I think looks quite neat!
I have a magazine about MAS and there are a couple of MAS' old fleet photos taken around Subang. I will look it up and scan them..... I think I might have left it at Wellington, so don't count on me....
Please post more photos if any of you have it!
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I left out the almost forgotten type of MAS
Boeing 737-3H6/F, rego 9M-MZA & 9M-MZB
I have only seen them in BKI wearing MASKargo logo
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When I was a kid, every year during school holidays I would make a trip westward to the nation capital and then down to Seremban to see my cousins and grandparents. My father is a west Malaysian who 'immigrated' to Sabah.
One year when I arrived at Subang, it was usually quite exciting as it means I would get to see loads of Airbus A300, DC-10s, B747s of MAS, B757, A300, A310, B727 and aircraft of other airlines, never mind the B732s....... I remember soon after the opening of Subang T2 in the mid to late 80s, there was a four-holer bird in complete white livery sitting just next to T2 and can be seen from the carpark and by the taxiway. Looks like the bird was not going anyway as I believe there was some kind of problem with it and she had to retire there (I couldn't remember exactly but part of the a/c was removed). I asked people around the airport back then, but nobody could answer it or they just didn't give a s#1t.
1. Could anyone remember this old bird? Or even recall the sighting of this bird? Anyone knows the story of this bird?
2. Could anyone also remember the crash location of Flying Tiger 747F which landed short of Subang runway? Is it somewhere around Puchong or USJ?
3. Could anyone also remember the crash location of OY-KAA Airbus A300 which flew for MAS in MAS livery, landed and crashed short of Subang again?
4. Is Terminal 1 of Subang totally demolished? What about Terminal 2?
Sorry if you find this annoying, Rozhan got me started digging into MAS' history
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Thanks Denny for the cutaway pic.
Check out the size of the fuel tank versus the seats and passenger space. It shows how thirsty this bird is for the aviation fuel.... This is a bit like the aircraft version of the American gas guzzler cars.
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Pieter, looks like the 737-800s will be operated by MH flight attendants with foreign pilots. I think that is one of the conditions of damp lease?
Not going to see gwai low or gwai mui (ang moh or mat salleh) in kebaya yet. It will be expensive to hire them anyway
Captain Radzi, what can you get from inside of the lockers?
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No way! We never get this VIP sandwich treatment or what-so-ever during the 737-200 days for the inter Sabah, Sarawak or Brunei flights!!! Are you sure they are generous enough to give out sandwiches? We paid M$120 (old 'currency' hehe) for each way, between BKI and TWU!And we had sandwiches in economy class, not just orange juice todayThe A300 B4 came later hence a later registration series.Rozhan, yes, point taken, but technically the A300 arrives around late 70s. But why does it have 9M-MH* rego? The A300 cannot be any newer than the Boeing 737-5H6 (9M-MF*) which arrives in the early 90s and the Fokker F-50s of MAS (9M-MG*) and Pelangi (9M-ME*) rego. My guess is MAS was playing with the rego at the time. Since the DC-10 had 9M-MAS rego, MAS wanted their new A300 to have MH rego, hence the MHA, MHB, MHC and MHD. The A300 was a techically superior a/c than DC-10 back then, so it makes sense. Hope my guess is reasonable.
You sure have done a bit of reasearch with MAS' rego. May be we should move all these rego thread to a new topic altogether, what do you think, Gavin?
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Rozhan, I think you are hitting something there. But 9M-A** rego may be dated from the MSA days. MAS did not inherit any B737-2H6 Adv from MSA, as all were Boeing 737-112 which were taken up by SIA at the end of the unhappy break up. MAS ordered their Boeing 737-2H6 Adv brand new and hence the new customer code H6 and SIA is considered the 'true' successor of MSA as the Boeings were took up by SIA.
MAS also had some B707s with G-**** rego. Not sure about the 9M-A** B737s, will find out later.
I think 9M-MA* rego begins on the DC-10-30, which at the time were the flagship of the company and hence the 9M-MAS rego. I am not too sure why the A300 had a later rego which is 9M-MHA, MHB, MHC and MHD.
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Also one thing I found is that.... 9M-MI*, 9M-MN*, 9M-MO* is omitted and never used by MAS for some sort of reason. Anyone has an answer to that?Not sure how accurate this is, but my guess is since the GE powered 744 had 9M-MH* rego. MAS wanted to differentiate the PW powered 744 from the GE ones, so rather than continuing the series with 9M-MI*, MN* or MO*. MAS had chosen 9M-MP* rego to coincide with the word "PW", just a rough guess and talking to myself anyway
Captain Radzi thanks for the confirmation of 9M-MJ* and ML* 737-400s.
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MAS to lease 5 Boeing 737-800s (Jul 26)
Malaysian Airline will lease 5 Boeing 737-800s with delivery from October. MAS wants to use the aircraft for new service to Fuzhou, Guilin and Shenzhen in China as well as Cochin and Trichi in India. The airline is in the process of deciding which aircraft it will order to replace 39 Boeing 737-400s and could possibly order up to 50 new jets in the coming months. Under consideration are the Airbus A320 as well as Boeing 737-800 and 737-900. MAS is also looking at the new A350 and B787 for a possible order.
Hope MAS will be getting the 737-800s and possibly the 737-900ERs
MAS should opt for the Boeing 787s rather than the A350s.
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SQ flew one or two concordes between London and Singapore (in conjunction with BA), but these birds were noisy as hell. I remember some Singaporean residents complained that their windows at home cracked into piece when concorde made a low pass by. Not sure about the possibility of this, but this was told by my relatives in Singapore.
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You are welcomed, Raymond
I was hoping to compile a more detail one. Just when I have the time and mood.....
Also one thing I found is that.... 9M-MI*, 9M-MN*, 9M-MO* is omitted and never used by MAS for some sort of reason. Anyone has an answer to that?
I believe that 9M-MJ* (and may be 9M-ML* as well) are rego of those leased in Boeing 737-400s which MAS leased in prior to receiving their own 737-4H6s.
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Thanks guys.
So it means JAL's KUL-SIN vv. are all night flights?
Is JAL KUL-SIN fare cheaper than MAS and SIA or is it the same?
If all of JAL's 777-200 are domestic ones, does it mean they are the 777-200 non-ER or 777-200ER (detuned version like some of SQ's)? I thought I saw it somewhere that they use their 777-200s to USA and parts of Europe too? Also to China, Beijing and Shanghai seems to be served by 777-200 or -300 (non-ERs).
Yeah, I just love Jap chicks...!!
But too bad, I am engaged and she is like me, a Chinese Malaysian.......... -
Guys,
Planning to catch JAL 777-346ER from KUL to SIN and back. Is it possible?
Where do these 777-346/ER flies to? NRT, KIX, NGO or FUK?
Cheers
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Not too sure if the leased in 737-800 will receive 9M- rego. It may retain the rego of its country of origin. Initially when MH was "trying out" the B734 which was leased in from some British Airlines, it had G-xxxx rego for a while.
Heard that there will not be any A320 for MAS anymore.
In the past, MH fleet's rego was:
Airbus A300-B4-203 - 9M-MHA, MHB, MHC and MHD
(the one crashed near Subang was OY-KAA, a leased in from Scandinavian Airlines)
Boeing 707-320 - (MSA) 9M-A** 9V-***, later 9M-MA* (with MAS)
Boeing 737-2H6 Adv - 9M-MB*
Boeing 737-5H6 - 9M-MF*
Boeing 747-236B (ex-BA equipment) - 9M-MHI and 9M-MHJ
(Couple of other leased in 747-200s also used 9M-MH* rego)
Boeing 747-4H6 with GE powerplants - 2 Combis (in desert now) and 2 with Qantas used 9M-MH* rego too.
Boeing 747-3H6 - 9M-MHK
Fokker F-27 Friendship - (MSA) 9M-A**, later 9M-MC* (with MAS)
MSA initially had a few -100 series (with shorter nose) and -500 series, but MAS only used the -500 series (with sharper nose)
Fokker F-50 - (Pelangi Air), 9M-ME*
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 - 9M-MA*
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If I am not mistaken, the 777-300's order were cancelled due to the Asian Economy Crisis or MAS' own financial crisis in 2001. They were later converted to 777-200ERs, hence 9M-MRN, MRO, MRP and MRQ.
MAS was also supposed to be the launch customer for the 777-200LR but it was thought to be nothing more than just a PR show with the last management regime.
Looks like 9M-MSA rego will now be on the A380s
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Did they send the 777-200LR to Bangkok for Thai Airways to have a good look at their mistakes on ordering the A340-500?
They probably assumed that the MH team will visit the a/c at SIN?
They often send the a/c to Australia to let Qantas to have a look. To date Qantas had ordered 0 number of the 777!!
I mean how can they underestimate MAS and took Air NZ seriously? MAS has far more a/c and potential than Air NZ. They sent 777-300ER for Air NZ to have a good look too. Really, the 777-200ER is enough for Air NZ and I won't see Air NZ flying Auckland - New York with a 777-200LR direct at all.
Who are the five customers of the Boeing 777-200LR? Pakistan, EVA Air and who else?
MH 772 in Special C/S
in General Aviation
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We have to count on Azahan to get some insider pics for us