Kuala Lumpur International Airport  is Malaysia's main international airport and one of the major airports in South East Asia. Built at a cost of US$3.5 billion in Sepang district of Selangor, it is located approximately 45km south of Kuala Lumpur city centre and serves the Greater Klang Valley conurbation.KLIA is the largest and busiest airport in Malaysia. In 2015, it handled 48,938,424 passengers and 726,230 tonnes of cargo. It is the world's 23rd-busiest airport by total passenger traffic.The airport is operated by Malaysia Airports Sepang Sdn Bhd and is the major hub of Malaysia Airlines, MASkargo, AirAsia, AirAsia X, Malindo Air, UPS Airlines and Gading Sari.HistoryBackgroundThe ground breaking ceremony for Kuala Lumpur International Airport took place on 1 June 1993 when the government under Mahathir Mohamad decided that the existing Kuala Lumpur airport, then known as Subang International Airport could not handle future demand. The construction of the airport was done mainly by a few state owned construction companies as well as Ekovest Berhad – helmed by Tan Sri Datuk Lim Kang Hoo. It was created as part of the Multimedia Super Corridor, a grand development plan for Malaysia. The chief architect who designed the new airport terminal was the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.