Kallang Airport

"RAF Kallang" & "Kallang Airfield" redirects here.Infobox Airport
name = Kallang Airport
nativename-a = 加冷机场
nativename-r = Pangkalan Udara Kallang


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caption = The iconic control tower of Kallang Airport, now a part of People's Association headquarter building.
IATA = ?
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type = Civilian public usage
owner =
operator = Ceased operating 1955
city-served = Singapore
location = Kallang
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coordinates = Coord|01|18|26.68|N|103|52|24.16|E|type:airport
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metric-elev = yes
metric-rwy = yes
r1-number = ?
r1-length-f = 5,500
r1-length-m = 1,677
r1-surface = Asphalt
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The Kallang Airport (Chinese: 加冷机场), also known as the Kallang Aerodrome, Kallang Airfield and RAF Kallang, opened on 1937 as Singapore's first purpose-built civil airport, together with an anchorage for seaplanes. Land was reclaimed in the Kallang Basin to turn the swampy area into a cicular-shaped airfield and to build a slipway for the seaplanes. The airport was closed in 1955 when the new Singapore International Airport at Paya Lebar was built, and the terminal building remains standing today as the headquarters of the People's Association.

History

Singapore's strategic location on the routes traversing from Europe, the Middle East and India across to the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands made it an ideal centre to serve the region in aviation too. Thus in 1930, the RAF-owned Seletar Airbase was open to commercial aircraft.

On 11 February 1930, the Dutch Airline Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (now known as KLM) inaugurated the first service flight between Amsterdam to Batavia (now known as Jakarta), landing in Seletar with a Dutch-made tri-engine monocraft carrying 8 passengers and a cargo of fresh fruits, flowers and mail. This also marked the beginning of commercial civil aviation in Singapore. KLM later introduced a regular Amsterdam - Batavia flight service in late-1931.
Two years later in July 1933, Imperial Airways, the flagship airline of the British empire at the time, started a service between London and Darwin via Cairo, Karachi, Calcutta, Singapore and Jakarta. This service was to be later extended to Brisbane and operated jointly with Qantas Empire Airways on 17 December 1934*.

Booming commercial aviation traffic led to congestion at the existing Seletar Airbase (today's Seletar Airport). There was a need to build a new airport. Thus on Aug 31 1931, Sir Cecil Clementi, then Governor of the Straits Settlements, announced that Kallang Basin would be the location for the new civil aerodrome suitable for land planes and seaplanes, and relieving Seletar from all commercial flight activities. Sir Clementi was quoted thus:

"Looking into the future, I expect to see Singapore become one of the largest and most important airports of the world ... It is, therefore, essential that we should have here, close to the heart of the town, an aerodrome which is equally suitable for land planes and for sea planes; and the best site, beyond all question, is the Kallang Basin." [ [http://www.alpas.org/page.php?id=35&PHPSESSID=e310a51df214d247b1b54c40512ca8e9 "Ho, L.H., Flight Into Fantasy: Singapore's journey into Aviation. AirLine Pilots Association, Singapore"] ]

In 1932 reclamation work began on the 103-hectare of tidal swamp in Kallang Basin. 7 million cubic metres of earth were used for the filling of this tidal swamp. By 1936, all reclamation and consolidation of land were completed, forming a 915-metre diameter, dome-shaped landing ground.

Thus on 12 June 1937, the Kallang Aerodrome was officially opened by Sir Shenton Thomas. When the airport was opened it was hailed as "the finest airport in the British Empire" with facilities which would have been considered revolutionary at that time. The circular shaped aerodrom allowed planes to land from any direction, and the slipway allows seaplanes to be served at the same terminal building as that for regular planes. The terminal building itself was considered a marvel, with a large open-air viewing gallery on the top of the two-storey building and with an iconic circular control tower in the middle of the glass-clad building.

World War II

When the Japanese launched their invasion of Malaya and Singapore on 8th December 1941, Kallang was the principal fighter airfield, then from January the only operational fighter airfield in Singapore. The other airfields (Tengah, Seletar and Sembawang) were within range of Japanese artillery at Johore Bahru.

Brewster Buffalo fighters of 243 Squadron RAF, 488 Sqn RNZAF and a detachment of 2-VLG-V of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force operated from the airfield, defending Singapore from repeated Japanese air raids. They were joined later by Hawker Hurricanes of 232 Squadron RAF, but attrition took a steady toll of men and machines, and by the last days of January 1942, the airfield had been badly damaged by the bombing and only a small number of aircraft were serviceable. The last of the fighters left in early February, escaping to carry on the fight just before Singapore was surrendered to the advancing Japanese.

Photo Gallery

Post WW2

The growth in aviation traffic was stunted during the war years, a period which saw the landing circle being converted into a single runway to allow use by warplanes. The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and Qantas resumed their regular services to the airport, while the resurrected local airline Malayan Airways (MAL) began services on 1 May 1947.

In the early 1950s, the increasing size of airplanes and the need for longer runways resulted in it being extended beyond Mountbatten Road in the eastern boundary of the facility into what is now Old Airport Road. This necessitated the installation of traffic lights to halt vehicular traffic every time a plane took-off or landed.

Closure

The success of MAL and rapid growth again caused congestion at the facility, while advancing technology neccesited extension of the only runway. This was no longer possible due to the presence of residential areas, leading to a decision to build another new facility at Paya Lebar in 1951, 8 km further from the city. When the new airport was completed on 20 August 1955, Kallang Airport was closed down, and all associated facilities moved to the new facility. The runway was converted into a road, and the airfield turned into a recreational area with the building of the National Stadium and Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Currently, the old terminal building still stands. It is used as the People's Association's headquarters.

Accidents and incidents

* On January 10, 1954, BOAC Flight 781, originated from Kallang to London, took off from Rome for its final leg to London and broke into pieces due to a structural defect.
* On 13 March 1954, a Qantas - BOAC Lockheed Constellation, "Belfast" carrying mail crashed while attempting to land at Kallang Airport en route to London from Sydney. The accident killed 32 people, including eight crew. [The Straits Times 14 March 1954.]

Legacy

Kallang Airport has left many numerous reminders of its legacy. The old runway, parallel to Mountbatten Road, is now called Old Airport Road. The surrounding public flats there are sometimes referred to as the Old Airport Estate or Kallang Airport Estate.

Immediately after the BOAC crash of 13 March 1954 while the runway was fouled a Douglas DC-3 Dakota managed successfully to land on a road parallel to the runway. This led to the naming of Dakota Crescent and Dakota Close, as well as the general public nominating "Dakota" as the name for the upcoming Dakota MRT Station.

The slipway for seaplanes is now occupied by the Oasis Building, a structure built into the sea and housing several restaurants.

ee also

*Battle of Singapore
*Far East Air Force (Royal Air Force)
*List of RAF stations

References

External links

* [http://www.raf.mod.uk/history_old/histories.html History of RAF]
* [http://www.can.com.sg/content/neocan/en/archive/spotlight/national_stadium/singapore_s_first.html Singapore's First Airport]