This July marks 25 years since the closure of Hong Kong’s iconic Kai Tak Airport. To note the anniversary, Owen Zupp met retired Qantas captain Ken Sargeant to learn more about the unique operational procedures required for aviators at the facility
Jutting out into Kowloon Bay is a man-made peninsula crafted from reclaimed nearly land a century ago. Today, its gun-barrel straight shoreline is the only faint indication that in a previous life it was once Hong Kong’s primary aerial gateway to the world.
Now decommissioned, Kai Tak Airport was famous for its landing approach which drew upon a range of guidance cues, including a massive red and white checkerboard on a Kowloon hillside. For flight crew, it was one of the most challenging approaches that they could ever encounter.
