Kuala Lumpur International Airport (abbreviated as KLIA) is Malaysia's main international airport and is situated in Sepang district, in the south of the state of Selangor, about 50 km outside the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Its IATA airport code is KUL or KUL2.

Built at a cost of some 3.5 billion dollars, KLIA was inaugurated in 1998. Its slogan was Bringing the World to Malaysia and Malaysia to the World.

The runways and buildings cover an overall site of 10,000 hectares. There are 216 check in counters,arranged in six check in 'islands' . The airport is also the first in the world to use the Total Airport Management System(TAMS).

KLIA also boasts the tallest air control tower.It has 75 ramp stands.With these facilities, KLIA is capable of handling 100 aircraft movements at any given time.

The Passanger Terminal Complex(PTC) was built with an emphasis on reflecting natural light from outside the building.The PTC comprises three buildings, tha Main Terminal Building,The Satellite Buiding and the Contact Pier. Besides the 80-room hotel at the Satelitte Building, there is also a 450 room 5 star KLIA hotel.Shopping spots are avilable on an area encompassing 85,000 square metres.

KLIA was designed by Japanese architect,Kisho Kurokawa, and developed by KL International Airport Berhad.

The airport is also designed using the concept of Airport in the forest, in which it is surrounded by green space.This was intricately done with the co-operation of FRIM, the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia.

Connections to Kuala Lumpur are possible on the KLIA Express train (RM35 one way), via taxis (approximately RM60) or buses. Most tourists will opt for the train or a taxi.

The airport is the main hub to Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia, and half of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air connection operated by both Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines.

The name Kuala Lumpur International Airport was previously used as an alternate name for the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB) in Subang .

Airlines

Airlines serving this airport include:

New Users

• Shenzhen Airlines
• Jet Airways
• Air Sahara

Previous Users

• Lauda Air (relaunched as Austrian Airlines )
• Royal Jordanian
• First Cambodia Airlines
• Turkish Airlines
• Pakistan International Airlines
• Qantas
• British Airways
• All Nippon Airways
• Egypt Air
• Air France
• Northwest Airlines

Incidents

In 2001, a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 aircraft suffered nose damage as it inadvertently entered a monsoon drainage ditch while it was being taxied from the hangar to the gate before a return flight to Saudi Arabia. None of the six crew members on board at the time were injured. Other than that, the young airport has not seen any incidents.

External link

• Kuala Lumpur International Airport website