Hong Kong Airport Celebrates 25th Anniversary Giving Away 80,000 Tickets

It’s been 25 years since Hong Kong International Airport moved from downtown Kai Tak to its current location in Chekla Laphrok. This important piece of history has never gone unnoticed and last Thursday, July 6th, kicked off a series of celebrations in Terminal 1’s arrivals hall.

Surprised passengers enjoyed performances by drum groups and jazz bands, as well as dance performances by local airlines, airport companies and operators, and airport officials from airport authorities. The celebration also included a cake-cutting ceremony at the airport.

There are 80,000 tickets up for grabs

While that all looks like a lot of fun, perhaps more exciting to the public was that 80,000 free air tickets will be given away to Hong Kong residents. That was announced last night by Jack So, Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), at a reception to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the move to the new site.

To support the airline industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, AAHK purchased 500,000 tickets from home-based airlines in 2020. In March this year, the authority launched the “World of Winners’ campaign, giving some of those tickets away to travelers in major global markets to boost the recovery of Hong Kong’s airline industry.

Now that goodwill is spreading to local residents as, starting from today, the AAHK will be giving away 80,000 tickets through a variety of channels from the home-based airlines. The round-trip air tickets will be for travel from Hong Kong to multiple destinations in Asia.

A big change from 1998

No doubt much will be written about the development of the new airport and the political intrigue behind the scenes when Britain was negotiating Hong Kong’s handover to China. For those interested in the subject, a good place to start is with the Hong Kong Governor Sir Chris Patten’s 1992-97 book East and West: the Last Government of Hong Kong.

Passenger numbers at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) have grown from 28 million in 1998 to 75 million before the pandemic paralyzed global aviation. There is no denying the wisdom of this move. . Jack Saw said the past three years have been difficult times for the airport, but it has continued to develop for Hong Kong’s future growth.

As part of the overall development of HKIA, the SKYCITY mega project is underway, which is the airport’s vision to build an airport city serving the local region. SKYCITY will comprise aviation, tourism, trade, retail and entertainment and is designed to be a landmark for the Greater Bay Area surrounding Hong Kong.