Legendary Airport · Hong Kong
Kai Tak: The Checkerboard Approach
For decades, people living in Kowloon City could look up from the street and see the tyres of a Boeing 747. Not at a distance: right overhead, so low that the roar of engines was part of the neighbourhood's daily soundtrack. That was ordinary life under the approach to Kai Tak, Hong Kong’s airport until 1998, and the reason pilots still talk about it.
Kai Tak’s problem was geography. Its single runway stuck out into Victoria Harbour, with the crowded neighbourhoods of Kowloon on one side and steep hills behind them. Aircraft landing towards the southeast, on what was called Runway 13, couldn’t fly a long straight approach the way they do at most airports. There was a mountain in the way.
Aiming at a hill on purpose
The solution was one of the strangest procedures in commercial aviation. Pilots followed an instrument beam, a guidance signal from a radio system called an IGS, a modified version of the normal Instrument Landing System. But the beam didn’t point at the runway. It pointed at a hillside, where a giant orange-and-white checkerboard had been painted so crews could see it.
Flying straight at a hill takes some nerve. Near the checkerboard, the beam ended and the pilots took over by eye. They then made a sharp turn to the right of about 47 degrees, at very low height over the rooftops, to line up with the runway, often only seconds before touchdown. In a crosswind, the aircraft would roll out of the turn with its nose pointed noticeably to one side of the runway and its wings still moving.
The sequence
The Runway 13 approach, step by step
Follow the beam
InstrumentsFly the IGS instrument beam, which points at a hillside rather than the runway.
Spot the checkerboard
VisualThe painted checkerboard on the hill confirms the aircraft is in the right place.
The 47° turn
Hand-flownA low-level right turn over Kowloon City, flown by hand.
Roll out and land
TouchdownWings level just before touchdown on a runway built into the harbour.
Why it was flown safely for so long
It’s tempting to call Kai Tak dangerous, but that misses the point. Pilots flying into Hong Kong were specifically trained and briefed for the approach, and airlines that flew there regularly built up deep experience with it. The procedure was demanding and left little room for error, which is exactly why it was taken so seriously.
The harbour didn’t forgive mistakes either. In November 1993 a China Airlines Boeing 747-400 landing in strong crosswinds overran the end of the runway and ended up in the water. Everyone on board survived. The accident showed how tight the margins were on a runway with water at the end.
The real numbers
Kai Tak at the end
1
Runway
Built out into Victoria Harbour
~47°
Final turn
Flown by hand at low height
28m+
Passengers in 1997
Plus about 1.7m tonnes of cargo
6 July 1998
Last day
Operations moved to Chek Lap Kok overnight
The night the airport moved
By the 1990s Kai Tak was simply full. It was handling more than 28 million passengers a year on that single runway, and there was no space left to build. Hong Kong’s answer was one of the largest construction projects of its era: a brand-new airport on an artificial platform built around the island of Chek Lap Kok, about 30km west.
On the night of 5–6 July 1998, Kai Tak closed and the whole operation moved across in one go: aircraft, ground equipment and staff. The new airport opened with capacity for about 35 million passengers a year and room to grow far beyond that, with approaches over open water instead of apartment blocks.
The old airport didn’t vanish. The runway has become the site of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, opened in 2013, and the Kai Tak Sports Park, with new housing and parks around them. The checkerboard hillside is still there, and still visited by people who remember what it was for.
Sources & Further Reading
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Kai Tak airport close?
Kai Tak closed on 6 July 1998. Overnight, operations moved to the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, about 30km to the west.
What was the checkerboard at Kai Tak?
A large orange-and-white checkerboard painted on a hillside in Kowloon. Pilots flying the Runway 13 approach aimed at it, and when they reached it they had to turn sharply right to line up with the runway.
Was the Kai Tak approach dangerous?
It was demanding rather than reckless. Pilots flying it were specially briefed, and it was flown safely thousands of times a year. Its real problems were noise over a dense city and the fact that the airport had run out of room to grow.
What is on the Kai Tak site now?
The old runway and apron have been redeveloped. They now hold the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, opened in 2013, and the Kai Tak Sports Park, alongside housing and parkland.
Can you still see the checkerboard?
Yes. The hillside that carried the checkerboard is still there in Kowloon, and it remains a well-known landmark for aviation fans visiting Hong Kong.