A Happy Mistake

A very quiet airport at 3am, walking all the way to Gate 36

I made a happy mistake when I booked my hotel accommodation. I didn't look too carefully at my flight departure time of 1am December 1, and instead had the room reserved until noon that day.

After a whirlwind trip of two weeks that packed in not only Hong Kong, but also side trips to Shenzhen, Macau, Zhongshan and my mother's hometown of Mui Yuen, just over 470km north east of Hong Kong, we were tired and ready to go home.

On November 30, we had dinner and then packed the rest of our items in our luggage and were ready to vacate our hotel room around 9pm.

We arrived at a cavernous, empty airport

But at 8.38pm we received a text message that our Cathay Pacific flight was delayed and would not depart until 4.30am December 1!

Apparently it was a maintenance issue of the aircraft. Surely CX had another plane on hand -- in its home base -- that we could use instead? But no.

So... we took a nap (well whatever shuteye we could get) and left the hotel at 1.45am to get to Hong Kong International Airport by Uber.

Our ride took just over half an hour and we entered a cavernous, empty airport.

When we checked in, the ground staff explained as compensation for the flight delay we would get HK$200 in food after we went through security. All we had to do was present our boarding pass.

"What kind of food options are there at this hour?" I asked.

"Probably McDonald's," was the reply.

How delightful...

We went through security and the immigration -- no one was even manning the booths, let alone the automated immigration clearance or e-channel.

Dumplings with noodles, soup and choy sum

All the duty-free shops had shut long ago, passed by a Labubu statue where he too had a boarding pass in his pocket, and we wandered to where there was a food court.

Thankfully there was more than just McDonald's open!

There was ramen at Bari-Uma, sandwiches and salads at Gordon Ramsay Plane Food to Go, Fujianese dishes at Putien, and finally Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop.

We went to the latter and ordered dumplings with noodles. The man at the counter encouraged us to order more food to reach HK$200, so I also had choy sum and two bottles of water.

Other than us, there were only ground staff hanging out, who either were aircraft engineers or moved luggage and cargo around.

When we finished eating, it was about time to reach our gate, Gate 36 -- down at the far end. 

Really? We had the last flight out before 7am and we had to walk all the way down to the end of the airport to board the plane.

By the time we got to the gate, we saw people already in line anxious to get on the plane, but we were kept waiting because the pilots hadn't boarded yet, nor the flight crew.

Labubu looking perky at this hour 

Passengers were exhausted and when we finally boarded, there were some terse exchanges because people didn't want to patiently wait and just wanted to get into their seats and start flying.

While the pilot apologised again, stating it was a maintenance issue of the aircraft and that it was safe to fly, many of us had already fallen asleep in our seats.

We didn't actually take off until 5am, and landed in Vancouver International Airport at just after midnight December 1.

It's a good thing I made the mistake in the hotel booking otherwise we would have been very miserable and tired hanging out in the airport for hours!

Picture of the Day: Changi's Jewel

Checking out the world's tallest waterfall

Had an early morning flight to Singapore and just my luck (and everyone else in economy), we had  to put up with a wailing baby who had lungs of steel and cried non-stop until the plane took off. 

What was funny was a friend of mine had a flight to Singapore too, an hour earlier than me. However, his Cathay Pacific plane had issues with its cargo hold and was sitting at the gate for 45 minutes; I boarded my Singapore Airlines plane and we pushed off from the gate before my friend and actually landed in Changi Airport before him too!

I ended up having to meet him where he was at Terminal 4, rather than Terminal 3 where I landed.

That meant taking the train from T3 to T2, which is near T4. As I took the train, it entered Jewel Changi Airport, the highlight being the stunning HSBC Rain Vortex, a ring of water that rains down from the ceiling. 

It was designed by Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, and at 40 metres tall, it is the world's tallest indoor waterfall.

Needless to say it was quite cool to see it finally and be in awe of it!

How Hong Kong's Airport Capacity Stacks Against Other Cities

Hong Kong is struggling to increase its airport capacity

See this chart? It tracks the capacity of several international airports in seeing if they are back to 100 percent capacity post-pandemic.

You can see Singapore Changi Airport represented by a black line on the graph and it has already broken through the 100 percent mark along with London Heathrow in yellow.

New York's John F Kennedy International Airport (green line) was well over 100 percent in November, but declining slightly at the moment, while Incheon Airport in Seoul is at 99.9 percent (pink line).

Haneda Airport in Tokyo? Well it hit 100 percent last May and was already at 110 percent in mid September.

Where's Hong Kong International Airport (blue)?

In December it reached a high of around 75 percent, but it has since plunged in January (no figures yet for February). 

This is what happens when there is a clear road map out of the pandemic by reopening faster. Around Christmastime the airline was short 500 pilots to fly Cathay Pacific planes and that resulted in numerous cancellations which left a bad impression with passengers, new and loyal.

While Cathay recently announced a HK$9.78 billion (US$1.3 billion) net profit last year, it doesn't believe it will return to 2019 capacity levels until 2025, and so HKIA's blue line on the graph won't be hitting 100 percent anytime soon...

Mocking Incident Puts Cathay Pacific on Damage Control

Three Cathay flight attendants were fired for mocking passengers

Cathay Pacific's problems continue to prevent it from getting itself out of the rut of the pandemic and now it has to do major reputation rebuilding after some flight attendants verbally mocked some Chinese passengers.

On a recent flight from Chengdu, Sichuan province to Hong Kong, three crew members were accused of making fun of passengers' language abilities by saying in English, "If you cannot say 'blanket', you cannot have it."

A Mandarin-speaking passenger complained about the incident which at first led the trio to be suspended, and then fired.

Lee warned Lam not to repeat the incident

But that was not enough.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu waded into the issue, saying he was angered and disappointed, and that he had personally instructed Cathay Pacific management to handle the incident seriously, and that the airline must review staff training and improve its customer service culture.

"These disrespectful words and deeds have hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland, and also undermined the city's existing culture and values of respect, courtesy and inclusiveness," he said.

"I am outraged and disappointed by the fact these bad deeds happened on a Hong Kong flight."

He told Cathay Pacific's CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por the incident was serious and had damaged Hong Kong's image, and urged Lam to ensure the incident would not be repeated again.

For his part Lam apologised in Mandarin to passengers who were affected by the incident as well as the wider community, and vowed to prevent a repeat of the situation.

Lam will ensure training and "customers first"

The CEO said he would lead a cross-department task force to enhance the company's "customers first" culture, and ensure its service had a solemn and polite image, and improve its quality.

Does Lee know that Hong Kong residents disparage mainland tourists on a daily basis? Is he going to punish them too?

Post-Covid there are complaints from the tourism sector that the city is getting the cheap Chinese tourists, the ones who have never visited Hong Kong before and don't mind seeing only the free landmarks and eating rice boxes. 

That's because the tensions between mainlanders and locals were never resolved as far back as a decade ago -- remember the term "locusts"? -- and so it's no wonder these situations have flared up again. 

Trying to get Hongkongers to shut up will be very hard, despite the dependence on these cross-border tourists to get the hospitality industry back on its feet again. 

It's a pity Hong Kong has put most of its eggs in this China basket, when all investors know it's better to diversify to ensure more balanced returns...

Cathay Ticket Giveaway to Nowhere

So much for trying to get one of 4,445 tickets...

I had no chance even when it started.

The free Cathay Pacific plane tickets to Hong Kong from North America were up for grabs at 6pm PST or 9pm EST, and I learned the hard way that I should have been in the virtual queue at least an hour before then.

So perhaps it was no surprise when I tried to enter, my queue number was 183,682 in a bid to get one of the 4,445 tickets available...

Later Cathay announced the giveaway round trip tickets from the United States and Canada to Hong Kong were snapped up by 10.45am and 11.11am respectively.

Some people complained to a Hong Kong newspaper they were hoping to snag a ticket but found the website was slow or found thousands of people were already ahead of them in the queue before the actual time.

Those grievances were the same ones echoed by previous hopefuls in Singapore; seems nothing was done to improve the site.

It's not a fun gimmick if it's practically impossible to get a ticket. It turns people off and could make Cathay's reputation worse off, and in turn the government for how the ticket giveaway was conducted.

The next batch of tickets will be given to people in Australia later this month, followed by Japan and Taiwan in June and July...

Free Tickets Not Quite Free

The free ticket giveaway to Hong Kong isn't exactly free

Those "free" plane tickets the Hong Kong government is giving away are not exactly free of charge, as winners need to pay fees and taxes, making it around the same price as a ticket.

Travellers from Southeast Asia were the first to have the chance to win one of the 135,000 tickets in March. Two winners from Singapore attempted to book their flights on Cathay Pacific's website using their redemption codes and were prompted to pay around HK$1,150 in carrier surcharges and taxes. Airfare return on CX usually costs around HK$5,300.

Some winners not impressed with high surcharge

"I wasn't expecting to pay that much," one said, adding he thought other airlines charged less.

The Singapore winners' fares were valued at S$280 (HK$1,655), but having to shell out HK$1,150 to get the free ticket seems outrageous.

Another winner from Thailand had to pay around 4,000 baht (HK$920) in extra fees for a ticket on Cathay Pacific, when flying on a full-service airline like Emirates would cost 5,000 baht.

"I knew it wouldn't be completely free, but I didn't expect that the taxes and surcharges would be so much," she said.

Lee trying to lure back visitors to Hong Kong

In April the ticket giveaway goes to mainland Chinese hopefuls. Wonder what they will think of having to pay the extra fees?

There were around 1.46 million arrivals in Hong Kong in February, almost three times more than in January, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

That figure still pales in comparison to the 5.5 million arrivals in February 2019.

Raining with Memories

Do you remember walking down the ramp at Kai Tak Airport?

Soon after President Xi Jinping left Hong Kong, typhoon Chaba gathered strength and the Hong Kong Observatory declared it was T3 and soon T8.

A friend lamented it was too bad the typhoon arrived 24 hours late...

The artist wants to create nostalgia around Kai Tak

Nevertheless it seemed like an ominous sign, much like 25 years earlier.

That's what I remember most about the handover -- it was dumping with rain outside. Many felt it was not a good sign of what was to come.

The typhoon's gale force winds also disrupted flights in and out of Hong Kong International Airport, which is probably another sign that the typhoon really is that bad.

Speaking of airports and anniversaries, Hong Kong artist Christopher K Ho has created an installation in Vancouver to remember Kai Tak Airport before it closed in 1998.

Next to the Shangri-La hotel is a large art installation that is somewhat reminiscent of the ramp that passengers walked down to greet loved ones waiting for them in the arrival hall.

Even floor tiles are reminiscent of the arrivals hall

It was such a cramped space, but the ramp gave people an opportunity to spot their friends and family and rush over to them on the ramp before helping them push their luggage carts down and towards the taxi stand.

Remember those days?

It was such a chaotic scene that one of the first few times we arrived in Hong Kong it was quite scary seeing so many people staring at you!

Ho calls this work CX889, the Cathay Pacific flight number from Hong Kong to Vancouver. In addition to the ramp there's a tall clock (that doesn't work), as well as a lone baggage cart secured in place. 

Ho even replicates the tiles that are at the end of the ramp, with the words "Please don't...", asking bystanders to not crowd in that space.

There is water collected on the floor, making me wonder if it was deliberate or from the previous days of rain that created this giant puddle of reflection.

Does it bring up nostalgic feelings? You have to be of a certain age to remember it, in other words older than 24 years old to remember what Kai Tak's arrival hall looked like.

A lone luggage cart stands by the ramp

Now Kai Tak is a giant construction site, with some super tall residential buildings completed, others being built and lots of empty land around too. Some Chinese developers ran out of money and had to sell at a much cheaper price than what they had paid for it.

More infrastructure, particularly public transport needs to be sorted as well as shops, supermarkets and so on before people might be interested in living in the area. 

It's funny how Hong Kong changes so much, but people's memories are a constant.

CX889

Christopher K Ho

Offsite

1100 West Georgia Street

Vancouver

Now until October 16, 2022

Forewarning of John Lee's Reign

Lam met with Lee today before holding joint press conference

Today incumbent Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor met with her successor John Lee Ka-chiu and then they held a joint press conference, but no questions were allowed to be asked.

He made a statement saying he will work on developing Hong Kong's economy, but how if the border to the mainland remains pretty much shut, and the city's own quarantine regulations have deterred airlines from resuming their flights at Hong Kong International Airport.

How Lee is going to rejuvenate the city's economy remains a complete mystery as he only mentioned it in his platform with no detailed plans, and no other candidates running against him to challenge him.

Chung says Beijing has picked incapable leader

Perhaps even worse is that Hong Kong's next leader is not really qualified to even lead the city, according to Chung Kim-wah, the former deputy head of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute. 

"Lee has no experience in all the most important policy areas, such as economy, finance and foreign trade, or fields such as social welfare, housing, education, healthcare and labour. He has only been a cop," Chung said. "My fear is that under his rule, things will go wrong in every aspect of Hong Kong.

"Choosing Lee has chief executive shows Beijing doesn't mind picking a completely incapable person to do nothing but carry out its will," Chung added.

Ouch.

This morning's pro-Beijing newspapers harped on how Lee garnered 99 percent of the vote (not hard when you're the only candidate), but also it he was he who vetted every person in the almost 1,500-member Election Committee.

Ads praising Lee as the next HK leader

The same papers also had pages and pages of advertisements congratulating Lee on becoming the next Chief Executive. Some of the companies included Cathay Pacific, Swire, Jardine Matheson, KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC. Surely it was perhaps the best day in the past two years for the newspapers' advertising departments.

Another devastating assessment is from Chris Fraser, the former chair of the philosophy department at the University of Hong Kong. He described the election as "merely an elaborate public confirmation ceremony for a preordained appointee."

"To the millions who marched in the streets in 2019, the whole charade is little more than another waste of taxpayer money on a pointless ceremony demonstrating that the Hong Kong government will never be accountable to its own citizens," said Fraser, who is now at the University of Toronto.

All eyes are on Lee, who has given the appearance of jumping straight into work, with already an office and staff.