WINGED VICTORIES

Asia is known for its world-class hospitality—and that extends to the skies with these leading airlines

- Faye Bradley

A hush descended over the 50,000 costume-clad rugby fans inside the recently opened Kai Tak Stadium on March 30, the final day of the annual Rugby Sevens. Heads tilted skyward as a Cathay Pacific A350 passenger jet zoomed nail-bitingly close by, its low-altitude passage a salute to the legendary airport that once stood where the new sports ground is located.

As the aircraft passed overhead, Captain Geoff Lui, one of four pilots in the cockpit for the commemorative flyover, addressed the crowd. “Many of us have had the honour of flying into the legendary Kai Tak Airport where you are now sitting,” he said. “While we can’t land here any more, today we honour the history of Kai Tak, Hong Kong and Cathay Pacific where it all began.”

For many, standing on the site of what many pilots described as one of the most challenging airports was a moment soaked in nostalgia. This year would have marked the airport's centennial, a milestone that stirred a collective swell of pride and joy.

Commemorative flight CX8100 was a reminder of the notorious landings at the old airport: pilots had to make a 47-degree turn at an altitude of less than 700 feet, threading their way between buildings and rooftops, before landing on a runway stretching brazenly into Victoria Harbour. It was the need for this blend of precision and bravado that earned the approach its infamous sobriquet, the “Kai Tak Heart Attack”.