Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship air carrier, is organising a commemorative flight this Sunday to mark the 100th anniversary of the former Kai Tak Airport, which served as the city’s first aviation hub and is now the site of the city’s largest stadium.
The A350 plane is expected to skim the rooftops near Kai Tak Stadium on the last day of the Rugby Sevens, recreating a scene that was commonplace to generations of Hongkongers, until the airport moved to Lantau island in 1998.
According to a social media post published yesterday, flight CX8100 is scheduled to take-off at around 4 pm local time and will fly past Central, Wan Chai, North Point and then Kai Tak Stadium, depending on the weather conditions on the day.
[See more: Here’s how to get from Macao to Hong Kong’s Kai Tak stadium]
“The thundering roar of the engines, the bustling neighbourhood right underneath…These collective memories of Kai Tak shall come alive on 30 March, back in where it all began,” the carrier wrote.
Formerly a simple runway, the former Kai Tak Airport expanded significantly over the decades, welcoming 29.5 million overseas travellers in 1996, a feat that made it the world’s third busiest airport in terms of international passengers handled that year.
The airport operated its final flight on 6 July 1998, and its closure of provided much need land for development in East Kowloon, with the area currently housing a cruise terminal and the Kai Tak Sports Park, where the 50,000 seat stadium is located.
