Today marks the 20th anniversary of the closure of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport.

July 5, 1998 was the last full day of operation of the airport. It closed for good at 1:28 am on July 6, with all operations moving to the brand new Chek Lap Kok airport that very same day.

Kai Tak was legendary – or infamous – thanks to its location in the very middle of the city, jutting out into the harbor.

Jumbo jets approaching Runway 13 of the airport would have to take a steep 47-degree right-hand turn, less than 1,000 feet above ground – an approach that became known to pilots as the “Kai Tak Heart Attack.”

Check out our gallery of the airport and its final day, above.

Last man out

Ed Peters, travel writer

I was the final passenger to disembark from the last place – Dragonair’s KA841 from Chongqing – to land at Kai Tak, which it did at 11:38 pm on July 5, 1998, snagging the one remaining limited-edition bottle of champagne and a commemorative medal from the VIP reception team on the apron.

I’d nearly missed my 15 seconds of fame. There was an aviation geek on board who obviously fancied the Last Kai Tak Passenger mantel, too. I marched up to him, flashed my Foreign Correspondents’ Club membership card and snapped: “Security. Please disembark now, sir.” He went like a lamb.

Sorry.

I raced back to my flat, filed the story to the South China Morning Post, drank the bubbles and fell asleep. I awoke to find the cleaner had disposed of my precious souvenir: which is why 20 years later, a bunch of retired garbage men are still reminiscing about the time they found that madman in his underpants scrabbling through the bins for an empty bottle.

Say what you like, it was a fabulous airport.

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