Billy Semple

Former professional football player

‘We booked our tickets through a Chinese travel agent who worked above the Lucky Star Chinese restaurant on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow,’ says former professional football player Billy Semple, who moved to Hong Kong in 1974 to join Hong Kong Rangers Football Club. Back then, Cathay Pacific didn’t have direct flights from London (they wouldn’t arrive until 1991), so passengers had to connect via Bahrain or Dubai. The total journey time from Scotland was nearly 24 hours.

‘I remember when we landed, walking down the aircraft stairs and across the tarmac to the terminal building to be introduced and photographed by the local press,’ says Semple. It was a snapshot that would capture the beginning of a golden age of domestic football in Hong Kong, as new investment and fresh foreign blood drew capacity crowds of up to 28,000 to Hong Kong Stadium on a weekly basis. There were even star turns from the likes of England 1966 World Cup captain and Semple’s former San Antonio Thunder teammate Bobby Moore, and Manchester United hero George Best. Moving to the other side of the world with his young family was a gamble for Semple, but it was one that paid off. ‘I stepped off that flight at Kai Tak and never looked back. Best decision I ever made.’

Tom Chadwick

Manager of business risk and continuity

‘I got a bank loan on Thursday, booked a ticket on Friday, flew on Saturday and arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday 5 July 1998, a few hours before Kai Tak Airport closed forever,’ says Tom Chadwick. From a humble military airstrip to a waterfront aerodrome welcoming Boeing 314 sea boats and silvery de Havillands to the third busiest hub in the world handling 30 million passengers and 1.5 million tonnes of cargo a year, Cathay Pacific’s original home base captured the world’s imagination for the best part of a century.

Chadwick was just 18 years old and had never been to Hong Kong when he learned of Kai Tak’s impending closure. ‘When I read that the airport was going to be closing the following week, I knew I had to go.’ It was his first trip to Hong Kong, but it was not to be his last, with annual visits over the next decade before meeting his wife and moving permanently to the city. ‘I fell in love with Hong Kong that day and I’ll always associate that love with my first flight on Cathay Pacific. I’ve landed in Hong Kong many times since, but the newer Chek Lap Kok airport has never been quite as exciting.’