What has happened to the old Kai Tak airport?

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Hi

I am an ex-Hong Kong'er of some 21 years, who left about 5 years ago now, and I still miss my home very much. Most of all, it seems that my life centered around the old airport, Kai Tak - and in my absence, I've missed the closing of this fine airport.

Can somebody please tell me what the current status of the airport is? I understand there are plans to build a small "city" on the site, but what has happened to the airport since it's closing? Do some or all of the buildings still stand, or (as I fear) has everything already been demolished to make way for whatever shall come next?

I dread returning to Hong Kong soon, and seeing the old airport empty; even more, I dread returning to see the airport completely gone... Return I will, though, when I can... In the meantime, somebody please put my mind at ease, and tell me what is there now, or better still tell me where I can find pictures of the airport in its current state?

Thanks

--- Michael R. Tomkins

-- Michael R. Tomkins (msbzdragn@earthlink.net), November 08, 1999

Answers

The airport site is currently vacant. No buildings have been demolished yet, and the runway and apron have been used for car races and concerts. The government has plans to redevelop the entire area into a green garden city where the roads will all be underground. The East Kowloon MTR Line is under proposal and in the plans are a sports stadium for the 2006 Asian Games bid and possibly a cruise terminal at the edge of the current runway.

-- J. Fung (globehouse@go.com), November 12, 1999.

Hello Michael,

Since it is almost 2002, I'm sure you have already recieved your answer. I went to Hong Kong in July 1999. It is a magical city...I could only imagine how it must have been when planes were flying right over head. I only wish I could have witnessed a 747 jumbo making an approach over Koowloon. Good luck, and lets hope for more web sites dedicated to the memory of Kai Tak!

-- Todd Palladino (Buellster@hotmail.com), November 06, 2001.


I read in a current architecture journal that the Kai Tak airport is currently being used as a giant "leisure land". Indoor spaces have been converted into go-cart "rec-plexes", bowling lanes, snooker centres, arcades, and the departure hall is now a massive car mega- store. The former runway now functions as "Oriental Golf City", one of the largest driving ranges in the world. Bye!

-- Jane Thomsett (juana_bee@hotmail.com), January 06, 2002.

Back in the early seventies I lived on Tin Hau Temple Road in North Point, it was fabulous watching the planes flying past to land at Kai Tak, we could almost see into the cabins. - I was at school at King George V in Kowloon so used to get the planes coming the other way flying past the class room.

Hence I've always had an interest in planes and a soft spot for Kai Tak.

Hong Kong will never be the same again. Heyaaah!

-- Nigel Ellway (Nigel.ellway@countryside.gov.uk), February 20, 2002.


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