Remembering Kai-Tak

[dnoblett]

2020+ new posts click here

 

 

Anyone fly into the old airport located IN Hong Kong? The airport was closed back in 1998 just after the new safer airport opened, the old Kai-Tak is reopening, but not for air trafic, it has been converted into a cruse ship port.

 

 

 

from CNN Travel
20 years on: Remembering the glory days of Hong Kong's old Kai Tak Airport

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Mick]

Dan, I flew in there twice, once in 1997 and again in 1998, not long before the closing. I am not a big fan of flying and it doesn't take much to freak me out. Our approach and landing, on the first trip, was an absolute horror. We came in over the harbor and took a steep bank for a u-turn with the right wing down. We came in skirting the tops of those apartment buildings shown in the clips. We landed on that runway in the photo and it was windswept to say the least. I was literally shaking when I got off the plane. The second time wasn't much better, except this time I knew what was coming.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Mick (see edit history)

[HongKong2LA]

Way before my time there but once, while I was in HK, I partied a little with a British Airways flight crew that was staying in my hotel and the pilot told me some horror stories about the old airport. Good times!!!

[tsap seui]

On my first freedom bird flight back to the states our flight landed at Kowloon, there amongst the junks, small boats, and tall buildings. I'm not tryin' to be a peckerwood, but what can I say, I had just left Vietnam. The landed was much less "entertaining" than landing at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam at 3am in the middle of a firefight on a commercial jet. Or maybe I had become desensitized with what I had just been through...I thought it was a breeze.

 

We spent the night in Hong Kong and I er...ah...met a Chinese girl of the evening....that may be why I am here writing on good ol' Candle. Imagine that, I got hooked.

 

Another place that is a lil' hairy to land in is Wellington, NZ. You come in for a landing over the harbor with the plane bouncing from side to side, hillsides on both sides, and you can actually look into the houses along the approach (most of which are higher than you are) and see what they are looking at on their TV. And the runway is so short with a cliff at the end....well, this thread is about Kowloon. It's well worth the trip (to Wellington).

 

So, Kowloon is now a cruise ship port? Isn't that what it always was? nyuk nyuk nyuk

 

tsap seui

[Randy W]

A new documentary on Kai Tak - 24 minutes

 

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Published on May 16, 2020

Hello, and welcome back to Places - Lost in Time, a series that looks back on the tale of places and locations that have existing within living memory or photographic record, but are now lost to the pages of history. In Episode 2, we take a gander at the famous Kai Tak International Airport, which was at one point the world's busiest single-runway airport in terms of traffic, and the third busiest airport on earth in terms of passenger numbers. However, while the airport was the gateway to Hong Kong, its constrained location meant it was doomed to failure.

 

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

The closure of Hong Kong's iconic Kai Tak Airport in 1998 was a significant moment in the city's history. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the airport's closure, Blue Lotus Gallery is pleased to announce a special upcoming exhibition "Goodbye Kai Tak and Thank You”. 

from Photography of China on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/photographyofchina/posts/pfbid0bAgEbNp1LQRCNA33zPYekvoAiZ1hiUW3WRpjwQNVkbv3jLnGr1TuQr6L9c2ntebjl

 

Goodbye Kai Tak and Thank You

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Blue Lotus Gallery is pleased to announce a special upcoming exhibition "Goodbye Kai Tak and Thank You”. Featuring photographs by Canadian photographer Greg Girard and Hong Kong photojournalist Birdy Chu, the exhibition offers a unique perspective on the airport's history and legacy.

[Randy W]

Another anniversary - this one at 25 years - from the SCMP.

Hong Kong’s old Kai Tak Airport closes: ‘We’ll miss you’ — from the SCMP archive

• July 6, 1998 — the lights went out for the last time as an army of staff worked overnight on the move to Chek Lap Kok
• The articles below represent part of the Post’s contemporary coverage of the incident

 

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The lights were turned out at Kai Tak at 1.16 this morning, marking the end of the airport’s 73-year history.

“Goodbye Kai Tak and thank you,” said Director of Civil Aviation Richard Siegel, before throwing the switch.

As the lights went out, hundreds of people worked through the night in a hectic 13-hour operation to move the last pieces of equipment to the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, 35km away.

The last pilot to fly out of Kai Tak was 51-year-old Kim Sharman, making his final flight before retiring.

 . . .

That aircraft and 30 others that would normally be parked overnight were then flown on the short hop to Chek Lap Kok, which was scheduled to open at 6.30am.

The first arrival is predicted to be a record-breaking non-stop Cathay flight from New York.

Other pieces of equipment were moved by truck and barge in a military-style operation to get the new airport open on time.

 

 

 

[Randy W]

On this day  20 years ago, the Concorde took its last commercial flight. Here's a look back at the times the supersonic airliner visited Hong Kong.

Read more: https://sc.mp/mw2w

#concorde #supersonic #hongkong #kaitak #scmpnews #scmp

from the SCMP on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/posts/pfbid02zyvtJ4vdbygxtgnUm7UNrvM7QVnAjRfBiACnnyf25LXhJq3ZtQG7n7Mf9TkV8Jitl

On This Day ǀ Concorde in Hong Kong: a visual history of the supersonic aircraft at Kai Tak Airport

• On the 20th anniversary of the last commercial British Airways Concorde flight on October 24, 2003, we look back at the times the supersonic airliner visited Hong Kong
• The Anglo-French jet first arrived in Hong Kong on November 5, 1976 with Imelda Marcos, the wife of the president of the Philippines among those on board