Sunset at Kai Tak Airport, 1996. Taken at Business Class Lounge before boarding my Thai Airways Airbus A330 flight to Bangkok, during my very last visit. Boarded aircraft directly via airbridge from terminal building. Note the soft golden sun's rays reflected on buildings across the harbour on Hong Kong island :-) Despite its single runway and thrills of expriencing the landing approach between buildings and rooftops, Kai Tak will alway be remembered by yours truly as a unique, well-managed and very safe airport. There is an adage that goes that if a pilot can land at Kai Tak, he can land anywhere. Other aircraft parked on the apron include an Air China 747 jumbo, an Alitalia MD-11, a Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300-600 and a China Eastern Airlines MD-11. Indeed, Kai Tak will evoke very powerful memories of Hong Kong during its final years as a British-administered territory
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Kai Tak Airport
Greetings, and thank you Noel for the photo and its introductory, so true about memories.
My personal experience dates back to the 1950s with two short runways. Here, grandpa and grandma saw their adult children (and their grandchildren) for the last time, people seeing their siblings, friends, and classmates, off to their adopted land. It was a place of emotion. Regards, Peter
Kai Tak Airport
Indeed, Hong Kong will never be the same without Kai Tak Airport. It has seen the best and the worst of Hong Kong's history, yet it has remained one of the world's most unique and iconic airports. It will always be a thrill to discuss one's experiences at Kai Tak. True, this airport had to give way to the sleek, more sophisticated and much larger Chek Lap Kok International Airport, of which I yet have to experience. But the memories of Kai Tak will always remein intact when one reminisces about old Hong Kong, especially during the '80s and '90s among us who belong to the so-called Generation X :-)