History
The Tekah Airstrip was built in 1929 by the British administration in Malaya at the time, and was known as the Taiping airport then. The airport has claim to being the first airport in the Federated Malay States, and also the first in SouthEast Asia. It was built to facilitate the landing of commercial aircraft.
The airfield is a single airstrip about 200 feet in length, and can accommodate the landing of single-engine, twin-engine aircraft and helicopters with ease.
The airstrip’s claim to historical fame includes a purported refueling stop for the famous aviator Amelia Earhart on her ill-fated solo flight around the globe in 1937. A large mural in town serves as a memorial to this event, though the actual historical veracity of this event is disputed.
The airfield also hosted the landing of prominent Indonesian statesmen Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, who later became Indonesia’s President and Vice-President respectively, for a meeting with local politicians Ibrahim Yaakub and Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmi to discuss the unification of Malaya and Indonesia as an independent nation in 1945. This meeting was arranged by officers of the Japanese Imperial Army occupying Malaya at the time, and it is a well-known fact that the Japanese wanted independence for Malaya and Indonesia from the Western colonialists of Britain and the Dutch.
Present Day
Currently, the airfield is frequently used as a training site for Royal Malaysian Army and Royal Malaysian Air Force paratroopers. A skydiving and parasailing training company also uses this airfield periodically as their event grounds. Almost every day, FPV drone pilots and other drone pilots frequent the Tekah Airfield to hone their piloting skills. Joggers and martial arts practitioners often use a nearby park adjoining the airfield. A nearby field adjoining the airfield is often used by cow and goat herders as grazing grounds.
The Tekah Airstrip (or Taiping Airport) is known by the IATA code TPG and ICAO code WMBI.
