The Paya Lebar Air Base is a

military airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

of the

Republic of Singapore Air Force The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establish ...

(RSAF) located at Airport Road in

Paya Lebar Paya Lebar is a planning area located in the East Region of Singapore, bordered by Hougang to the west, Sengkang to the northwest, Tampines to the east, Bedok to the south and Pasir Ris to the north. As part of the Singapore Urban Redevelopment ...

, in the eastern region of Singapore. The airbase goes by the motto of ''Strength Through Readiness''. It was originally built in 1954 as ''Singapore International Airport'' to replace

Kallang Airport Kallang Airport (also known as the Kallang Aerodrome, Kallang Airfield and RAF Kallang) was the first purpose-built civil international airport in Singapore, opened officially on 12 June 1937 and ceased operations in 1955, when it was reloca ...

; control of the airport was transferred to RSAF in 1980 when it was renamed Paya Lebar Air Base, following the relocation of the civilian airport to Changi. Under the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. Mission The authority was established on 1 Apri ...

(URA)'s Master Plan, Paya Lebar Air Base is scheduled to be decommissioned by around 2030 to make way for residential and commercial developments as a

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, with the RSAF relocating to other airbases throughout the country such as at

Changi Changi () is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Sera ...

and

Tengah ''Tengah'' is an Indonesian and Malay word meaning "Central". It can be found in topography, e.g. *Kalimantan Tengah * Tengah Islands or Central Archipelago. *Tengah, Singapore Tengah is a planning area and future HDB town located within the ...

, which will be expanded throughout the 2020s.

History

The airport was built from 1952 to 1955, and opened on 20 August that year by the

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies. Histor ...

Alan Lennox-Boyd Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, CH, PC, DL (18 November 1904 – 8 March 1983), was a British Conservative politician. Background, education and military service Lennox-Boyd was the son of Alan Walter Lennox-Boyd by his ...

. The architect for the project was J. J. Bryan, a public works engineer with experience constructing airports in other parts of Asia. It was one of the two hubs for

Malayan Airways Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

at this time, and the airline had its first flight outside Southeast Asia in 1958, using a

DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s ...

plane leased from

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

, flying to Hong Kong. Turboprops were introduced over the next few years, and the name was changed to Malaysian Airways. In 1962, a joint RAF/Singapore civil Air Traffic Control service was formed to provide Military cover for Air Defence. During that time Britannia aircraft of British Eagle provided transport for the British military. Comet 4C's were common traffic and the new VC10 arrived reducing flight time, rather than the 24hrs-with stops- of the Britannia. In 1966, the company focused more on Singapore, buying

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

s, headquartering itself in that country, and renaming itself Malaysia-Singapore Airlines – with a notable fluorescent yellow livery. Its primary hub became Paya Lebar, and services began to reach out further into North Asia. From 1979 to 1980, British Airways, in conjunction with Singapore Airlines, began supersonic

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

services from London's

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

, to Paya Lebar Singapore. Malaysia-Singapore Airlines was dissolved in 1972, with the airline splitting into two;

Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (The ...

and

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...

were formed – the latter keeping all the 707s; and Singapore Airlines remaining at Paya Lebar. Passenger numbers rose from 1.7 million to 4 million between 1970 and 1975. The airport was constrained by housing estates and although some work was done to keep it operational in the meantime, construction began on the new airport in 1975 and opened in 1981. Paya Lebar then closed to civil traffic, the

IATA airport code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a three-character alphanumeric geocode designating many airports and metropolitan areas around the world, defined by the ...

of SIN and the

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indicators'', ...

of WSSS were transferred to the newly opened civilian airport in Changi.

Conversion to military use

Singapore International Airport began to be gradually converted into a military air-force base from late 1967 onwards. During that year, an ''Air Movement Centre'' was constructed to handle passengers and cargo arriving on

, and

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

charter flights Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

and foreign

military aircraft A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equipm ...

. The original terminal building (painted green), maintenance hangar and control tower are retained. Access to terminal and hangars are off-limits closed off by a wired fence. It became a complete

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

airbase in 1981 when

Singapore Changi Airport Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...

was opened and was subsequently renamed as Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB) in the same year.

Paya Lebar Air Base

The air base currently houses aircraft such as the

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

and two squadrons of F-15SG Strike Eagles. The flying squadrons are: *122 Squadron with 10

, * 142 Squadron with 15 F-15SG Strike Eagles, * 149 Squadron with >24 F-15SG Strike Eagles The support squadrons are: *Air Logistics Squadron (ALS) *Airfield Maintenance Squadron (AMS) *Field Defence Squadron (FDS) *Flying Support Squadron (FSS) Former squadrons based here are: *141 Squadron with F-5S/T, RF-5S * 144 Squadron with F-5S/T

Use by the United States Air Force

Under Singapore's permission, the Paya Lebar Airbase is also used by various flying units of

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

(including

United States Marine Corps Aviation United States Marine Corps Aviation (USMCA) is the aircraft arm of the United States Marine Corps. Aviation units within the Marine Corps are assigned to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, as the aviation combat element, by providing six ...

) as a strategic refuelling stopover and staging post/transit point; the base is also used permanently by the 497th Combat Training Squadron for other flight operations since 31 October 1991. Paya Lebar Air Base also plays host to USAF VIP aircraft as well, with regular visits by

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...

, such as during President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's two visits to Singapore in October 2003 and November 2006.

Air Force Two Air Force Two is the air traffic control designated call sign held by any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the U.S. vice president, but not the president. The term is often associated with the Boeing C-32, a modified 757 which is most ...

carrying Vice-President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

also made a refuelling stop and underwent minor repairs en route from Australia in 2007. The USAF Boeing 747-200 E-4B regularly lands at the base when the U.S. Secretary of Defense visits Singapore, as does the Boeing 757 C-32A that carries the Secretary of State. On 14 November 2009, Air Force One carrying President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

landed at Paya Lebar Air Base to attend the

APEC Singapore 2009 APEC Singapore 2009 was a series of political meetings held around Singapore between the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation during 2009. It culminated in the 17th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM) held in Singapore f ...

Summit. On 10 June 2018, President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

landed at the airbase in the

Boeing VC-25A The Boeing VC-25 is a military version of the Boeing 747 airliner, modified for presidential transport and commonly operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) as '' Air Force One'', the call sign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the ...

for the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un landed at Changi Airport instead, on a chartered

Air China Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, ...

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

. On 22 August 2021,

carrying Vice-President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

arrived at the airbase for an official visit.

2018 North Korea–United States summit

PLAB was chosen to host

for the 12 June 2018 North Korea–United States summit between President

and

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

. Although early media reports speculated that Kim's

Ilyushin Il-62 The Ilyushin Il-62 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-62; NATO reporting name: Classic) is a Soviet long-range narrow-body jetliner conceived in 1960 by Ilyushin. As successor to the popular turboprop Il-18 and with capacity for almost 200 pa ...

would land at PLAB, his plane landed at

instead. On 6 June 2018, Singapore's aviation authorities announced temporary airspace restrictions that was put in place for parts of 11–13 June. Aircraft arriving at

was required to reduce speed with some restrictions on runway use. Aviators were also informed to keep a distance from Paya Lebar Air Base as it is a high-security facility used by U.S presidents on their previous visits to Singapore. Kim landed in Singapore Changi Airport on 10 June. After the summit, Trump and Air Force One left Singapore via PLAB at 6:30 pm Singapore Time.

Decommissioning

The airbase is expected to be decommissioned from 2030. Throughout the 2020s, expansion works are currently ongoing at

Tengah Air Base The Tengah Air Base is a military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located in the Western Water Catchment, in the western part of Singapore. The air base is the most important airfield of the RSAF as it houses the majo ...

and

Changi Air Base The Changi Air Base is an airfield military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located at Changi, in the eastern tip of Singapore. Sited at two locations to the Changi Air Base (East), east and Changi Air Base (West), west ...

to prepare for the eventual relocation of RSAF's assets after the closure of the airbase. With the closure of the airbase, height restrictions imposed at Singapore's central business district (CBD) which limits buildings to a maximum height of 280 meters unless special permissions are granted will be lifted, and the airbase's area will be redeveloped into a

with residential housing projects, offices, factories, and parks. Parts of the old airbase (e.g. runway) will also be integrated to this new town to conserve its heritage, with parks and museums.

Photo gallery

File:Flags outside Singapore International Airport, photographed February 1969 × July 1971.jpg, Flags outside Singapore International Airport, photographed February 1969 × July 1971. File:Malaysia-Singapore Airlines Boeing 737.jpg, Malaysia-Singapore Airlines

Boeing 737-100 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

File:SAS airliner at Singapore International Airport, photographed February 1969 × July 1971.jpg, SAS Caravelle at Singapore International Airport, photographed February 1969 × July 1971. File:Giraffe S 3D radar.jpg, 1988, a

GIRAFFE S 3D radar The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

on display at Paya Lebar Air Base. File:Maverick armed RSAF F-5S.jpg, An

AGM-65 Maverick The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) designed for close air support. It is the most widely produced precision-guided missile in the Western world, and is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, ...

armed Northrop F-5S Tiger-II. File:Best RSAF Unit award 2008.JPG, 2008, Squadron personnel and staff of 149 Sqn based at PLAB posing in front of the squadron's F-5S Tiger-IIs after winning the Best RSAF Unit award. In 2010, the Sqn transitioned to the new F-15SG Strike Eagles.

Legacy

Being Singapore's first major international airport, the old passenger terminal building and control tower still stands, though they now house air force units and are off-limits to the public. Nevertheless, much of the interior still remains intact and is almost completely preserved from the time it was first built. The road which used to lead to the old passenger terminal is also still known as Airport Road.

Air Force Museum

The RSAF maintains the Air Force Museum, which is open to the public and showcases the air force's history and capabilities. The museum is located at 400 Airport Road, Singapore 534234 beside the airbase. It went through an upgrade and update of the exhibits in 2015.

References

External links

RSAF web page on Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB)
* * {{authority control Military airbases established in 1955 Airports in Singapore Camps and bases of the Singapore Armed Forces

Air Base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

Republic of Singapore Air Force bases 1955 establishments in Singapore Singapore–United States military relations