‘Kelong’

This photograph is part of an album which contains 110 photographs related to aviation practices in pre-independent Singapore.In 1919, the first aircraft (Captain Ross Smith’s Vickers Vimy) landed in Singapore, marking the start of aviation activities here. The use of passenger airplanes was made possible in Singapore in 1930, when the Straits Settlements Government allowed the landing of commercial aircraft at Seletar Air Base, the Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Singapore which was completed in 1927. In 1937, the first civilian airport, Kallang Airport was officially opened, which led to the establishment of Wearne’s Air Service, a local airline. Despite these advances, air travel remained unpopular. This changed after World War Two.