Cathay Pacific A350 set to perform spectacular flypast over new Kai Tak Stadium

To mark 100 years of Hong Kong’s rich aviation heritage, as well as marking the start of the annual renowned Kong Kong Sevens international rugby tournament, it has been revealed that the territory’s homegrown carrier Cathay Pacific will operate a special flypast over Kai Tak Stadium on Sunday, March 30, 2025.

Recently, AeroTime reported that the airline was returning to its roots at the former site of its spiritual home – the city’s Kai Tak Park. The airline had announced that it was partnering with Hong Kong’s new state-of-the-art Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) located at the site of the previous international airport as its exclusive Founding Travel Partner. The KTSP includes a brand-new, state-of-the-art sports arena, the Kai Tak Stadium.

According to a statement issued by Cathay Pacific on February 24, 2025, KTSP is “the largest integrated sports and entertainment landmark in Hong Kong” and was developed to “deliver ​sporting, cultural, and entertainment experiences to a global audience”.

Cathay Pacific Bringing the past and the present day together, while also providing a nod to the carrier’s former home, one of Cathay’s Airbus A350s is set to soar over the Kai Tak Stadium to mark the start of the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament. According to the city’s flagship carrier, the special flight with flight number CX8100 flight will take off from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) at around 16:00 local time on Sunday, March 30, 2025, flying past the city districts of Central and Wan Chai before flying over the Kai Tak Stadium and onwards to North Point and through the harbor area of downtown Kowloon.

“The thundering roar of the engines, the bustling neighborhood right underneath – these collective memories of Kai Tak shall come alive on March 30, 2025, back where it all began,” Cathay wrote in a Facebook post.

Cathay Pacific According to The Standard, the Hong Kong government has expressed support for the event, stating that the flypast “symbolizes the century-long legacy of Hong Kong’s aviation history.” The authorities are inviting the whole population of Hong Kong to turn out and witness this “momentous and meaningful occasion.”

Starting as a simple airfield in 1925 following the War, Kai Tak developed into the main air hub that connected Hong Kong to the world. Located in the heart of Kowloon City with a runway that extended from mountains at one end into Hong Kong harbor, the iconic Kai Tak airport was known for its remarkable airplane landings, with a steep late turn onto final approach and aircraft seemingly skimming the rooftops of nearby apartment blocks as they landed. Pilots, in particular, remembered Kai Tak as the most difficult airport to fly in and out of, requiring a 45-degree turn below 500 feet to align with the runway.

Aero Icarus / Wikimedia CommonsHong Kong was renowned for local residents being able to look up and see aircraft roar right over dense residential buildings of the neighborhood, a memory cherished and shared by Hongkongers of a certain generation before the airport finally closed in 1998 to be replaced by Hong Kong’s current air gateway at HKG. At its peak, Kai Tak Airport handled around 30 million passengers just using a single runway built from reclaimed land from Kowloon Bay.

The former site in Kai Tak has since been redeveloped and is currently home to the city’s cruise terminal, and the newly opened Kai Tak Sports Park. The former runway has been turned into the Kai Tak Runway Park, where visitors can see the yellow and black checkerboard pattern, once used as a landing guide, and other aviation design elements.

To facilitate the flypast by the Cathay Pacific A350 on March 30, 2025, the territory’s Civil Aviation Department (CAD) has said it will establish a temporary restricted flying zone in and around Victoria Harbour. Flying activities, such as the flying of unmanned aircraft systems such as drones and model aircraft as well as kites, captive balloons, and the mass release of small balloons will all be restricted. Cathay added that the special flight will be subject to weather conditions on the day of the flypast.

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