Old Airport () is an area in

Berakas Mukim Berakas 'A' is a Mukims of Brunei, mukim in Brunei-Muara District, Brunei, Brunei Darussalam. The population was 27,223 in 2016. Etymology People from the Kampong Ayer used to travel to the Berakas to get firewood before resettlement. ...

, near the city of

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) is the capital and largest city of Brunei. It is officially a Municipalities of Brunei, municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei–Muara District, the s ...

, in the Sultanate of

Brunei Darussalam Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

. It is the common name given to the former site of the original Brunei Airport (hence the name), and is now the location of several

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

offices.

Name

The reason the location is known as the Old Airport is because it is the site of the former Brunei Airport, prior to the establishment of the present-day

Brunei International Airport Brunei International Airport (BIA) (, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: لاڤڠن تربڠ انتارابڠسا بروني ) is the primary international airport and official airport of entry; one of two airports in the Sultanate of Brunei, Brunei Darussala ...

(BIA) which opened in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. The

air traffic control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled ai ...

and other parts of the former Brunei Airport Terminal Building are currently occupied by the Government Printing Department offices.

History

During the

Japanese occupation of British Borneo Before the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, the island of Borneo was divided into five territories. Four of the territories were in the north and under British control – Raj of Sarawak, Sarawak, Brunei, Crown Colony of Labuan, Labuan ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the first

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

was built in Brunei Darussalam. The

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

that were arriving to defend their captured territory then exploited this fledgling aerodrome. Even though the Allied Forces extensively attacked it, those same forces rebuilt and upgraded the runaway after the war, and a proper

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

was designed and constructed, and named Brunei Airport. Only in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, when internal air service linkages were established between ''Pekan Brunei'' (

Brunei Town Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) is the capital and largest city of Brunei. It is officially a municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei–Muara District, the smallest yet most populous ...

) and Anduki (which serves the oil town of

Seria Seria or officially known as Seria Town (), is a town in Belait District, Brunei. It is located about west from the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The total population was 3,625 in 2016. It was where oil was first struck in Brunei i ...

) in the

Belait District Belait District (; Jawi: دأيره بلأيت) or simply known as Belait ('; ), is the largest as well as the westernmost district in Brunei. It has an area of and the population of 65,531 as of 2021. The administrative town is Kuala Belait ...

, did

commercial aviation Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...

in Brunei start. In order to serve passengers from

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

and

Lutong Lutong is a suburban township in Miri, a city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. An oil refinery was built in Lutong by Shell Oil Company. Lutong's economy is generated mainly from staff of the oil and gas companies located nearby. History ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

, the first

international flight An international flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the Takeoff, departure and the arrival take place in different Country, countries. Regular international passenger air service began in August 1919 with a flight ...

s were operated to the

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n states of

and

. Around 4,300 people used the Brunei Airport in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

, when

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 ...

, using British-built de Havilland Rapide aircraft, began operating flights between Brunei Town, Anduki,

Miri Miri () is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of , located northeast of Kuching and southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest ...

, and Labuan. At that time, the only aircraft that Brunei Airport could handle were the de Havilland Rapide, the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

, and eventually the

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

. All of these aircraft were

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

s with two engines. On 8 May 1957, the ''kajang'' terminal building was replaced by the Old Airport Terminal Building, featuring a large lobby, a bar, and a passenger stopover. Shortly after the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

took control of the airport during the

Brunei revolt The Brunei revolt () or the Brunei rebellion of 1962 was a December 1962 insurrection in the British protectorate of Brunei by opponents of its monarchy's proposed inclusion in the Federation of Malaysia. The insurgents were members of the ...

on , soldiers of the 1st Queen's Own Highlanders were unloading supplies from a

Blackburn Beverley The Blackburn B-101 Beverley is a heavy transport aircraft produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was notably the only land-based transport aeroplane built by Blackburn, a company that otherwise specialised in pr ...

operated by No. 34 Squadron RAF. This was followed by several other aircraft, which included

Handley Page Hastings The Handley Page HP.67 Hastings is a retired British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and manufactured by aviation company Handley Page for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Upon its introduction to service during September 1948, ...

Auster AOP.9 The Auster AOP.9 was a British military air observation aircraft (" air observation post") produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the Auster AOP.6. Design and development The Auster AOP.9 was designed as a successor to the Auster AO ...

, and

Westland Wessex The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34. It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes from Sikorsky's H-34 was the rep ...

. The popularity of air travel significantly increased throughout the 1970s. The former Brunei Airport was overbooked and overrun with traffic. Due to the necessity to accommodate the increasing number of users, the authorities set out to find a new location for the construction of a modern international airport. Construction on the brand-new

, which serves Bruneians in

, started in 1970, and was finished in 1974.

Government offices

The former terminal building of the Brunei Airport has become the office of the Government Printing Department. Its vicinity is also the location of various government buildings which belong to two ministries and several government departments. These include: *

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

* Ministry of Development *Mail Processing Centre *

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

*Brunei-Muara District Office *Public Service Commission *Department of Electrical Services *Housing Development Department *

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei The Language and Literature Bureau (, DBP) is the Bruneian language authority of the country's official language Malay. It is also the operator of public libraries in the country. It was established in 1960 and is now a government department ...

*Information Department *Anti-Corruption Bureau *Agriculture Department *Survey Department *Land Department * Fire and Rescue Department *Government Printing Department

References

External links

{{Authority control Brunei–Muara District Geography of Brunei Defunct airports Airports disestablished in 1974