Taiping Aerodrome Lapangan Terbang Taiping | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||
Operator | MINDEF | ||||||||||
Serves | Taiping, Malaysia | ||||||||||
Time zone | MST (UTC+08:00) | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 40 ft / 12 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 04°51′49″N 100°42′55″E / 4.86361°N 100.71528°E | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Taiping Aerodrome (IATA: TPG[2], ICAO: WMBI) is an aerodrome in Taiping, Larut, Matang and Selama, Perak, Malaysia. It is located at Jalan Muzaffar Shah formerly Creagh Road, Assam Kumbang and also called Tekah Airstrip. The airport was built in early 1929, this wooden structure aerodrome was the first airfield in the state of Perak and also in Peninsular Malaysia.
Taiping Airport is the oldest airstrip in Malaysia. It was built by the British in 1929 for non-military use. Along with Alor Star Airport which was built in the same year, it was one of the earliest airports in Malaya. However, in 1933, more airports were built in Singapore, Selangor and Penang, and Taiping Airport was no longer important.
In February 2007, the airport was chosen to be the hub for the Global Flying Hospitals, GFH. However, in July 2007, it was decided that Taiping Airport was not suitable as the flying hub, and the Chairman of GFH, Neill Newton, announced a new location will be selected, but not in Malaysia.