Word: kaies
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...alone in my affection. Kai Tak closed five years ago this month, but many still refer to it like a much-loved, weirdo uncle who's no longer around?one who will be forever remembered because he broke all the rules and made you gasp while doing so. Indeed, the airport's closure was another nail in the coffin for the era of romantic travel?Kai Tak was the last embodiment of an age when commercial flying was a buzz. Even an airline amenity kit became a novelty when you flew into Hong Kong: the supplied blindfold...
...Kai Tak was a place of wonder and, like so many works of genius, deeply flawed. The meeting area was shabby and tiny; there were few shops and restaurants air-side. In the event of delays the terminal was soon crammed with a queue for taxis as long as Hong Kong's famous Lantau Trail. Even Kai Tak's greatest fans acknowledge that it had long since reached its capacity, but it didn't make saying goodbye any easier. And no one loved the airport in the guts of the city more than the spotters. To them Kai...
...Chris Armstrong, an engineer who now lives in Britain, worked in Hong Kong for more than three years and many of his weekends were spent at Kai Tak. "I arrived for the first time in Hong Kong via a Runway 13 approach, and it never ceased to amaze me how close you got to the houses," he says. "It's a special place. There is nowhere in the world to equal it." Meanwhile, his friend David England had worked on the design of the Airport Railway Link and his Kowloon Bay office overlooked Kai Tak's southern runway. "I kept...
...With Kai Tak gone, many Hong Kong residents are understandably proud of its replacement, Chek Lap Kok (its drab proper name is the Hong Kong International Airport). It is undoubtedly a well-designed, efficient, world-class facility. Inside it is everything Kai Tak wasn't?spacious, airy and, with an inventive use of natural light, a little too bright for some when the morning sun catches those check-in desks. But it's also like so many international airports nowadays: somewhat soulless and homogenized. You could be in Schipol or Singapore. One reason Kai Tak is still held in such...
...Kai Tak was a busy airport right in the middle of town and loved by all," says Armstrong. "Chek Lap Kok is like any other airport?straight in approach, and boring. It simply doesn't generate the same fun, excitement or mystery that the old airport did. Long live Kai...