 |
Fifteen years after Richard Siegel, Hong Kong’s then-director of civil aviation, bid farewell and turned off the lights at Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport, the old airport has been given a new life.
With official ceremonies set for this week, it will be rechristened Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. The new facility will accommodate cruise ships and other large vessels.
Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas will be the first ship to arrive at the cruise ship berth — formerly runway 13 — today at 8 p.m.
Before its closure in 1998, Kai Tak (the first recorded flight from the site took place in 1925) was regarded as one of the most difficult airports in the world for pilots to fly into and out of.
As it sat in the middle of Kowloon City, with a runway protruding into the sea, landing in Kai Tak was a hair-raising event even for experienced pilots.
Cathay Pacific Airways’ general manager of operations and pilot Russell Davie has 36 years of flying experience.
He remembers Kai Tak fondly.
“As a pilot, it was totally unique. It was the only major airport in the world that required a 45-degree turn below 500 feet to line up with the runway, literally flying between the high-rise buildings, passing close to the famous orange and white checkerboard as you made that final turn toward the runway,” he said
With official ceremonies set for this week, it will be rechristened Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. The new facility will accommodate cruise ships and other large vessels.
Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas will be the first ship to arrive at the cruise ship berth — formerly runway 13 — today at 8 p.m.
Before its closure in 1998, Kai Tak (the first recorded flight from the site took place in 1925) was regarded as one of the most difficult airports in the world for pilots to fly into and out of.
As it sat in the middle of Kowloon City, with a runway protruding into the sea, landing in Kai Tak was a hair-raising event even for experienced pilots.
Cathay Pacific Airways’ general manager of operations and pilot Russell Davie has 36 years of flying experience.
He remembers Kai Tak fondly.
“As a pilot, it was totally unique. It was the only major airport in the world that required a 45-degree turn below 500 feet to line up with the runway, literally flying between the high-rise buildings, passing close to the famous orange and white checkerboard as you made that final turn toward the runway,” he said
|
Post a Comment