Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong: Gone but always remembered

For yours truly who used to travel to Hong Kong late ‘80s to mid ‘90s, there is always one landmark associated with the former British territory that I will never forget: Kai Tak Airport.

As the Rod Stewart song goes, every picture tells a story—and a very powerful one indeed. Here is one taken by yours truly during my very last trip to Hong Kong back in 1996, months before the handover to Chinese administration to become a Special Administrative Region (SAR).

Taken from the Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge at good 'ole Kai Tak Airport before boarding my Thai Airbus A330-300 flight to Bangkok at 7 PM. The aircraft I flew on was docked at an airbridge, and it took off smoothly southeastwards at Runway 13. You can also call this picture 'Kai Tak sunset'; love the soft, golden glow of the rays of the setting sun on the buildings at Hong Kong Island across the harbour—also a magic moment captured in time.

Despite its rather miniature size for an international airport, Kai Tak has, through the decades, emerged to be a major aviation hub in Asia. It was also the hub city for one of Asia’s most successful carriers, Cathay Pacific. Kai Tak will also be remembered as an airport located right in the heart of downtown Kowloon; in addition to having an airport hotel accessible from the terminal by airconditioned walkway, you were 20 to 25 minutes away (in smooth traffic) from the main shopping, hotel and tourist center of Tsimshatsui! Not to be outdone was that exciting approach from the northwestern flight path: over and across Kowloon apartment blocks (where you can even spot families inside their units—which may include some so-called moments of intimacies!) before your aircraft turns some 140 feet above ground level before that safe, smooth touchdown. Aviation industry experts and enthusiasts alike affirm that if you can land at Kai Tak, you can land anywhere!

Kai Tak will also be remembered as a plane spotters’ delight. That same time I was about to depart, you can also spot in this picture a Garuda Indonesia A300-600R, Mandarin Airlines B747SP, Alitalia MD-11 Combi, China Southern Airlines B737-300 and China Eastern Airlines MD-11.

Among the passengers that boarded my Thai flight, I encountered a great number of Hongkongites—both individuals and families, papers on hand—leaving for good to seek greener pastures, perhaps in the UK or Europe who were going to transit in Bangkok. What immediately flashed into my mind of that exodus was they were leaving their beloved ‘fragrant harbour’ due to a sense of skepticism as well as uncertainty that they have due to the so-called ‘handover’ that will take place on June 30 the following year. You can also call that among the more bittersweet moments that you encounter leaving Kai Tak during its final years-- seeing families migrating abroad.

As my Thai A330 was taking off, I really couldn’t help but shed some tears—as I knew that aside from being my very last visit to Hong Kong under the British, time was also running out of Kai Tak. Two years later, Kai Tak was replaced by the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, 34 kilometers west of downtown Hong Kong, on a reclaimed land off Lantau Island.

Even though travelers have welcomed the sleek sophistication and enlarged facilities and amenities of the new airport, those who have travelled to and from Kai Tak will agree that it will go down in history as an airport like no other, so full of character, mystery and charm. Indeed you can also say that it was Kai Tak that made Hong Kong what it is, a small destination that is big with surprises, with this wonder of an airport.