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Kuala Lumpur International Airport Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur
IATA: KUL ICAO: WMKK WMO: 48650
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Khazanah Nasional
Operator	Malaysia Airports
Serves	Greater Kuala Lumpur
Location	Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Opened	27 June 1998; 26 years ago (1998-06-27)
Hub for	Batik Air Malaysia Malaysia Airlines MASkargo Raya Airways World Cargo Airlines
Operating base for	AirAsia AirAsia X
Time zone	MST (UTC+08:00)
Elevation AMSL	21 m / 70 ft
Coordinates	02°44′36″N 101°41′53″E / 2.74333°N 101.69806°E / 2.74333; 101.69806
Website	airports.malaysiaairports.com.my
Maps
KUL/WMKKLocation in Sepang, Selangor, MalaysiaShow map of SelangorKUL/WMKKKUL/WMKK (Malaysia)Show map of MalaysiaKUL/WMKKKUL/WMKK (Southeast Asia)Show map of Southeast AsiaKUL/WMKKKUL/WMKK (Asia)Show map of Asia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 14L/32R 4,124 13,530 Asphalt 14R/32L 4,000 13,123 Asphalt 15/33 3,960 12,992 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Passengers 47,224,000 (85.9%) Domestic passengers 14,664,000 (31.8%) International passengers 32,560,000 (128.1%) Aircraft movements 319,026 ( 60.9%) Cargo (tonnes) 660,040 ( 30.7%)(2022)
Sources: MAHB

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) (IATA: KUL, ICAO: WMKK) is the main international airport serving Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. It is located in the Sepang District of Selangor, approximately 45 km (28 mi) south of downtown Kuala Lumpur and serves the city's greater conurbation.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Malaysia and is recognised as a mega hub. In 2023, it handled 47.2 million passengers, 980,040 tonnes of cargo and 819,026 aircraft movements, ranking as the 35th-busiest airport by total passenger traffic.

As of 2024, Kuala Lumpur International Airport has become the second most connected airport globally, according to the OAG Megahub Index, following London-Heathrow. Other airports in the top five included Tokyo–Haneda, Amsterdam and Seoul–Incheon.

The airport is operated by Malaysia Airports (MAHB) Sepang Sdn Bhd and is the major hub of Malaysia Airlines, MASkargo, Batik Air Malaysia, UPS Airlines and World Cargo Airlines, and the major operating base of AirAsia and AirAsia X.

History

Background

The groundbreaking ceremony for Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) took place on 1 June 1993 when the government under Mahathir Mohamad decided that the existing Kuala Lumpur airport, then known as Subang International Airport (now Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport) could not handle future demand. The construction of the airport was done mainly by a few state owned construction companies as well as Ekovest Berhad – helmed by Tan Sri Datuk Lim Kang Hoo. It was created as part of the Multimedia Super Corridor, a grand development plan for Malaysia. The chief architect who designed the new airport terminal was the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.

Upon KLIA's completion, Subang Airport's Terminal 1 building was demolished. Malaysia Airports agreed to redevelop the remaining Terminal 3 to create a specialist airport for turboprop and charter planes surrounded by a residential area and a business park. The IATA airport code KUL was transferred from Subang Airport, which currently handles only turboprop aircraft, general aviation and military aircraft.

Current site

The airport's site spans 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) of former agricultural land and is one of the world's largest airport sites. An ambitious three-phase development plan anticipates KLIA to have three runways and two terminals each with two satellite terminals. Phase One involved the construction of the main terminal and one satellite terminal, giving a capacity of 25 million passengers, and two full service runways. The Phase One airport had 60 contact piers, 20 remote parking bays with 80 aircraft parking positions, four maintenance hangars and fire stations. Phase Two, designed to increase capacity to 35 million passengers per year, is largely complete. Phase Three is anticipated to increase capacity to 100 million passengers per year.

Grand opening

Kuala Lumpur International Airport was officially inaugurated by the tenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Ja'afar of Negeri Sembilan, on 27 June 1998 at 20:30 MST. The first domestic arrival was Malaysia Airlines flight MH1263 from Kuantan at 07:10 MST. The first international arrival was Malaysia Airlines flight MH188 from Malé at 07:30 MST. The first domestic departure was Malaysia Airlines flight MH1432 to Langkawi at 07:20 MST; the first international departure was Malaysia Airlines flight MH84 to Beijing at 09:00 MST.

Inauguration

The inauguration of the airport was marked with numerous problems. The aerobridge and bay allocation systems broke down, with queues building up throughout the airport and the baggage handling breaking down. Bags were lost, and there were waits of over five to seven hours. Most of these issues were remedied eventually, though the baggage handling system was plagued with problems until it was put up for a complete replacement tender in 2007.

The airport suffered greatly reduced traffic with the general reduction in economic activity brought about by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, September 11 attacks, SARS, bird flu epidemic (Avian flu), the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the 2009 swine flu pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic. The airport is also largely overshadowed by the more internationally renowned Changi Airport located approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) to the southeast in Singapore, especially in regards to connecting flights by various airlines or Malaysians especially living in the southern parts of the country (e.g. Johor) preferring to travel via Changi rather than at KLIA.

The first year of opening immediately saw reduction of passenger numbers as some airlines, including All Nippon Airways (resumed on 1 September 2015), British Airways (reinstated on 28 May 2015 until 28 March 2021), Lufthansa (resumed between 28 March 2004 until 28 February 2016) and Northwest Airlines, terminated their loss-making services to KLIA. KLIA's first full year of operations in 1999, in its Phase One manifestation (capacity of 25 million passengers per year), saw only 13.2 million passengers. Passenger numbers eventually increased to 21.1 million in 2004 and 47 million in 2013 — though short of the originally estimated 25 million passengers per year by 2003.

Rebranding

On 9 February 2023, transport minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook announced that the government and MAHB had agreed to rebrand KLIA and klia2 to KLIA Terminal 1 and KLIA Terminal 2 respectively. The costs associated with the rebranding will be fully borne by MAHB.

Runways

Kuala Lumpur International Airport has three parallel runways (14L/32R; 14R/32L; 15/33).

The current three runway system is capable of handling 78 landings per hour and was expected to increase to 108 landings per hour once upgrading of the Kuala Lumpur Flight Information Region had been completed in 2019. These runways operate on different departure/arrival modes according to the air traffic requirements.

Operations and infrastructure

Kuala Lumpur International Airport features a number of modern design features that assist in the efficient operation of the airport. It is one of the first Asia Pacific airports to become 100% Bar Coded Boarding Pass capable. Malaysia Airlines; AirAsia; MASkargo, a cargo airline; and Malaysia Airports, the Malaysian Airports operator and manager; are headquartered on the property of KLIA. Malaysia Airlines also operates its Flight Management Building at KLIA.

Terminals

Kuala Lumpur International Airport comprises two main terminals: the original terminal, Terminal 1, previously known simply as "KLIA"; and the newer Terminal 2 (formerly KLIA2). Terminal 1 was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, who also designed the Domestic Terminal (T2) at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, with an emphasis of natural lighting within the airport complex. Spanning 38.4m along a grid pattern allowing for future expansions, the abstract symbolic architecture by the late Kisho Kurokawa encompasses the Islamic geometry and cutting-edge technology with the tropical rainforest in mind.

KLIA Terminal 1

Main Terminal Building

The KLIA Main Terminal Building (MTB) now also referred to as KLIA Main is located in between the two runways. The floor area of the terminal covers 390,000 m (4,200,000 sq ft) and the building consists of 39 square roof units, which enables future expansion of the building. There are a total of 216 check-in counters, located in 6 different islands, identified by the letters A – M (excluding I). Multi check-in services are available, designed for the use of all passengers arriving, departing or in transit. Self check in facilities are available in this airport since 2007, and KLM was the first airline to use the Common-use self-service kiosks. The contact pier is an extension of the main terminal building with gates marked with prefix A and B for domestic departures, G and H for international flights. The gate allocation is based on operational requirements, although it has been observed that Malaysia Airlines has been operating most of its operations out from the contact pier.

Satellite Terminal A

The 176,000 square metres (1,890,000 sq ft) satellite building accommodates international flights departing and arriving at KLIA T1. Passengers taking flights parked at the satellite terminal are transported by bus from the main terminal; as of March 2023, the Aerotrain that connects this building with the main terminal has been suspended for repairs and rolling stock replacement.

There is a wide array of duty-free shops and prestige brand boutiques in the satellite building. This includes international brands such as Burberry, Harrods, Montblanc, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Hermes. Among all international labels available within the terminal, some boutiques such as Harrods are only available in the airport. A number of restaurants and international airlines' lounges are available as well as an Airside Transit Hotel.

Within the terminal, wireless internet (Wi-Fi) is provided free of charge. The terminal also has prayer rooms, showers and massage service. Various lounge areas are provided, some including children's play areas and movie lounge, broadcasting movie and sport channels. The terminal also features a natural rainforest in the middle of the terminal, exhibiting the Malaysian rainforests.

Under Malaysia Airports Berhad retail optimisation plan, the retail space in satellite terminal A will be further optimised to increase its revenue derived from commercial space rental and a percentage of sale receipts to 50% by year 2010 which currently stands at 35%. Some notable improvements that will be seen after the refurbishments will be the Jungle Boardwalk which will be the first of its kind in the world and larger mezzanine floor to accommodate F&B outlets and viewing galleries.

The gates in Satellite Terminal A have the prefix C. The Satellite A terminal has 27 boarding gates altogether.

KL City Air Terminal

KL City Air Terminal, sometimes known as Kuala Lumpur City Air Terminal or KL CAT, located at KL Sentral, is a virtual extension of KL International Airport where city check-in services are provided. KL City Air Terminal is recognised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and carries the IATA designation XKL. Currently there are only three airlines providing city check-in services: Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines and Batik Air Malaysia.

KLIA Terminal 2 (formerly known as KLIA2)

Built at a cost of approximately RM4 billion, it is the largest purpose-built terminal optimised for low-cost carriers, like AirAsia in response to the exponential growth of low-cost travel in the region. It was built to replace the previous Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT). KLIA T2 began its operations on 2 May 2014, and all flight operations at LCCT were moved to KLIA T2 by 9 May 2014.

As part of its development, a third runway (Runway 15/33) and a new air traffic control tower (Tower West) were built to support its operation. KLIA T2 has an initial capacity of 45 million passengers per year. The terminal has a built-up area of 257,845 sqm with 68 departure gates, 10 remote stands, 80 aerobridges, includes a retail space of 32,000 sqm to accommodate a total of 220 retail outlets. The main terminal building of KLIA T2 is connected with its satellite piers with a skybridge, making it the first airport in Asia with such facility. KLIA T2 is certified with Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED).

Check-in counters are divided into 8 rows located in 4 islands, each row identified by the letters S – Z. Boarding gates are located in 5 piers, indicated by the letters J and K for domestic flights, and L, P and Q for international flights. Piers J, K and L are connected directly to the main terminal building, while Piers P and Q are accessible via the skybridge. Piers K and L are physically the same pier and share the same gates, but with waiting lounges on different levels (Level 1A for K and Level 2 for L). For international flights, the access door from Pier K is sealed off, while for domestic flights, the access door from Pier L is sealed off instead.

At present, inter-terminal connection is provided on the landside at Gateway@klia2 complex and there are provisions for future airside inter-terminal connection.

Gateway@klia2

Gateway@klia2 is an integrated shopping complex that is connected to the main KLIA T2 terminal building. It has a 350,000 square feet of net lettable space spanning over four levels. The transport hub at Gateway@klia2 links klia2 to the KLIA Ekspres and KLIA Transit service, with allotted pick-up and drop-off areas for coaches, taxis, rented vehicles and private transportation.

Gateway@klia2 hosts an 8-storey car park that directly adjoins KLIA T2. There are 6,000 covered parking lots at Blocks A and B and another 5,500 lots at car park D (KLIA2 parking rate). Shuttle buses are available to take the public from the car park D to the terminal. The first capsule transit hotel in Asia, the Capsule by Container Hotel, is also located at Gateway@klia2. Gateway@klia2 is managed by WCT Holdings Berhad.

Former Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT)

The now defunct 36,000 square metres (390,000 sq ft) low cost carrier terminal (LCCT) was opened at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 23 March 2006 to cater for the growing number of users of low-cost airlines, especially the passengers of Malaysia's "no-frills" airline AirAsia. The terminal was designed and built in accordance to the low cost carrier business model, with limited terminal amenities. As requested by the low-cost airlines, the terminal did not provide aerobridges, nor were there transfer facilities, rail connections, and the other facilities provided in a fully fledged terminal. LCCT was located within the Air Support Zone; it ceased operations on 9 May 2014, and all low-cost carrier flights subsequently operated out of KLIA T2.

Future Expansion Plans

Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) has announced plans to expand the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to accommodate the increasing number of air travelers. Transport Minister, Anthony Loke Siew Fook stated that the proposal includes increasing the capacity of KLIA Terminal 1 from 30 million passengers per annum (mppa) to 59 mppa and KLIA Terminal 2 from 45 mppa to 67 mppa. The expansion plan also considers constructing a fourth runway and a new Terminal 3 in the future.

In addition to the long-term plans, short-term measures have been introduced to improve the passenger experience, such as the installation of self-check-in kiosks and the addition of 20 new immigration autogates. Furthermore, MAHB plans to build a Private Premium Terminal designed for passengers seeking premium services, offering expedited immigration and customs processes and accommodating up to 100 users at a time. This project is currently in the planning stage and is expected to begin in 2025.

MAHB also aims to establish a Hajj and Umrah Terminal with a capacity of five mppa, specifically catering to Muslim pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia. This terminal would enable Saudi Arabia's immigration pre-clearance procedures to be conducted at KLIA, reducing waiting times at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. However, this development is contingent on approval from the Saudi Arabian government.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Busiest international routes (2023)

Rank	Airport	Passengers	% change 2022/23
1	Singapore	3,601,340	52.0
2	Jakarta–Soekarno–Hatta	1,892,344	113.0
3	Denpasar	1,370,621	140.7
4	Bangkok–Don Mueang	1,310,132	161.6
5	Taipei–Taoyuan	987,063	610.5
6	Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi	965,131	82.3
7	Ho Chi Minh City	861,760	102.2
8	Dhaka	859,679	52.5
9	Jeddah	771,174	38.9
10	Medan	769,006	146.1
11	Dubai–International	726,389	161.0
12	Hong Kong	704,699	575.1
13	Phuket	702,317	179.3
14	Manila	690,335	94.2
15	Seoul–Incheon	638,026	182.6
16	Guangzhou	622,384	1,583.3
17	Surabaya	609,261	156.2
18	Doha	606,041	31.4
19	Chennai	573,338	76.2
20	Perth	561,975	250.5
21	Sydney	545,376	142.1
22	Melbourne	534,425	117.9
23	Tokyo–Narita	482,519	115.6
24	Kathmandu	448,823	23.8
25	Delhi	424,349	119.7
26	Phnom Penh	387,576	100.1
27	Hanoi	380,280	215.7
28	Colombo–Bandaranaike	368,744	130.4
29	Tokyo–Haneda	365,818	830.1
30	London–Heathrow	362,392	40.5
31	Shanghai–Pudong	361,750	2,992.9
32	Tiruchirappalli	352,851	50.8
33	Istanbul	351,279	55.7
34	Da Nang	323,195	267.2
35	Osaka–Kansai	318,767	719.8
36	Medina	295,762	21.0
37	Bandar Seri Begawan	271,942	88.5
38	Kochi	264,586	158.1
39	Shenzhen	261,419	22,320.2
40	Pekanbaru	258,023	923.8
41	Mumbai	249,036	127.1
42	Padang	241,217	1,247.2
43	Auckland	228,205	185.3
44	Bengaluru	223,596	95.5
45	Abu Dhabi	223,566	43.5
46	Hyderabad	218,617	120.2
47	Krabi	214,838	358.0
48	Yogyakarta	210,533	493.5
49	Yangon	201,072	37.5
50	Muscat	185,340	95.8

Busiest domestic routes (2022)

Rank	Airport	Passengers	% change 2021/22
1	Kota Kinabalu, Sabah	2,171,604	306.6
2	Kuching, Sarawak	1,756,964	489.2
3	Langkawi, Kedah	1,471,511	185.9
4	Penang, Penang	1,044,895	480.0
5	Kota Bharu, Kelantan	784,586	206.9
6	Tawau, Sabah	750,998	261.5
7	Miri, Sarawak	528,918	503.9
8	Sibu, Sarawak	493,929	594.4
9	Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu	415,291	343.0
10	Johor Bahru, Johor	337,289	439.6

Operational statistics of Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Year	Passengers handled	Passenger % change	Cargo (tonnes)	Cargo % change	Aircraft movements	Aircraft % change
1998	6,524,405		156,641		64,123
1999	13,172,635	101.9	417,068	166.3	116,589	81.8
2000	14,732,876	11.8	510,594	22.4	109,925	5.7
2001	14,538,831	1.3	440,864	13.6	113,590	3.3
2002	16,398,230	12.8	527,124	19.6	127,952	12.6
2003	17,454,564	6.4	586,195	11.2	139,947	9.4
2004	21,058,572	20.6	651,747	11.2	165,115	18.0
2005	23,213,926	10.2	653,654	0.3	182,537	10.5
2006	24,129,748	4.0	672,888	3.0	183,869	0.7
2007	26,453,379	9.6	644,100	4.3	193,710	5.3
2008	27,529,355	4.1	649,077	0.8	211,228	9.0
2009	29,682,093	7.8	584,559	10.0	226,751	7.3
2010	34,087,636	14.8	674,902	15.4	245,650	8.3
2011	37,704,510	10.6	669,849	0.7	269,509	9.7
2012	39,887,866	5.8	673,107	0.5	283,352	5.1
2013	47,498,157	19.1	680,982	1.2	326,678	15.3
2014	48,930,409	3.0	753,899	10.7	340,821	4.3
2015	48,938,424	0.0	726,230	3.7	354,519	4.0
2016	52,643,511	7.6	642,558	11.5	356,614	0.6
2017	58,554,627	11.2	710,186	10.5	387,234	8.6
2018	59,988,409	2.4	714,669	0.6	399,827	3.3
2019	62,336,469	3.9	687,240	3.8	407,315	2.1
2020	13,156,363	78.9	505,183	26.5	124,529	69.4
2021	4,011,836	69.5	660,039	30.7	73,673	40.8
2022	25,399,296	533.1	684,459	3.7	198,302	169.2
2023	47,224,000	85.9	660,040	3.6	319,026	60.9