Spotting in HKG
| Spotters' HKG |
| Spotting in HKG |
This page is last-updated on January 1, 1998.
Welcome to this page, especially designed for those who plan to come to HKG and do spotting in the near future. This page provides you with detailed info on choosing the best place for spotting, and also suggesting you some of the places worth visiting about aviation.
As Kai Tak is scheduled to close in April 1998 and the new airport at Chek Lap Kok will open at the same time, spotters from around the world are coming to Hongkong for their last Kai Tak visit. Moreover, as Cathay Pacific provided a cheap ticket package recently, there will be more visitors coming to Hongkong. Therefore, you should plan before coming to HKG; or otherwise, you will be only in a rush and can see nothing here.
Hongkong, a lovely and beautiful place, has an extraordinary airport. It does not like any other airport in the world. It is not faraway from the city. It is not a really large airport. However, it has its own character.
Hongkong International Airport, called Kai Tak, is situated in the heart of asia. It is the transport centre in the Far East and Pacific Region. It is also a gateway to China. The airport itself is in the crowdest part of Hongkong, Kowloon City. The Runway 13 IGS (Instrument Guidance System) approach gives every tourist a valuable experience in flying.
Spotting Places
Spotting in Hongkong is really a rare hobby to most of Hongkong people. Usually, foreigners go to Hongkong and do spotting most. Therefore, as many spotters know, there are number of places for spotting. In my opinion, I would recommend the following places:
Hongkong Int'l Airport 2/F Restaurant
In Kai Tak Airport, there are 2 restaurants, one is for Chinese food, and one is for fast food. I would suggest the second one. It is accessible by the escalator on the departure level. The restaurant is opened to public, whether you eat there or not. From there, you can have a clear view of the whole airport apron. Photography maybe not too suitable, since there is a layer of glazed window. However, it worths to go there since you could see every landing and departure of the airport. For the Chinese restaurant at the other end of the Departures Level, you can also see the apron from there.
Hongkong Int'l Airport Carpark Rooftop
The carpark is situated next to the main passenger terminal, and is accessible by lifts which are located in G/F Arrivals Hall. The Rooftop is open to public, as long as the airport opens, even at night. From there, you can have a clear view of how planes land by using IGS approach. Furthermore, you could see planes preparing for their takeoffs. You could only see just a part of the airport from there. Photogrpahy there is exellent.
Kowloon Tsai Park and Nga Tsin Wai Road
Kowloon Tsai Park, situated under the approach airway, is quite good for photographing. There is a large football field in the park, so that there will be nothing blocking your view. You can go there by taking a taxi from the airport or having a 20 minutes walk from the airport. Follow the pedestrian tunnel outside the terminal building. Keep along at Nga Tsin Wai Road, and turn right at Inverness Road. Along Nga Tsin Wai Road, you can take close pictures on aircraft belly, and turning approach too. Photography at the park is excellent and on the road is okay.
Kwun Tong Public Pier
Kwun Tong Public Pier is just opposite to the end of the Hongkong Int'l Airport runway. From there, you could see all the aircrafts arriving and departing Hongkong. This place is especially good if the aircrafts use RWY 31 for arrivals and departures. You could clearly see how the plane arrives from the ocean! Since taxi is a cheap and convenient means of transport, you just need to spend about HK$75 to go there. Alternative method is to have 10-minute walk from Kwun Tong MTR station. Or, you can get Bus No.11D opposite to the airport. The bus is directly to Kwun Tong Ferry Pier. Photography there is excellent.
Various Cargo Forwarding Handling Centres situated near the airport
Different rooftops of cargo centres situated near the airport allow tourists to visit and take photos there. Although I have not tried before, you could ask for opinions from Marcel van den Berg on mvdb@pi.net. He has been to Hongkong before and you can ask him about this matter. However, rumours had been told that these areas are now restricted to spotters due to some misbehaved ones in the past years. Photogrpahy is good there.
Kowloon City Olympic Avenue and Sung Wong Toi Road
These two are the main roads to and from the HKG International Airport. Along the road, you can see clearly the aircraft enter the runway and ready for take off. Besides, exciting shot of arrivals can also been seen there. To go there, you can just walk away from the airport terminal and towards the airfield. Spotting and photographing here is good despite fences all over the airport premises. The Hong Kong Aviation Club also allows tourist to take pictures there.
Kowloon Bay Eastern Road
This road is just next to the HKG International Airport Cargo and East Apron. You can have large views of airliners standing before you. You could see the cargo planes B747s parking outside the Hongkong Air Cargo Terminal HACTL and other airliners parking in the Hongkong Aircraft Engineering Company HAECO. To get there, you can get a bus route no. 1A or 40 opposite to the airport and alight opposite to Cathay Pacific Catering Services. Photography there is fair only as the fences are very high and the holes are small.
Kowloon Bay Kai Fuk Road
This road is just next to the HKG International Airport South Aerodrome. From there, you could see all the aircraft which are parking there. At that part of the airport, aircraft you see there are mostly parked for hours, or for cargo handling operations, or even for maintenance purposes. Although the aerodrome is separated from the outside with a very high fence, spotting here is still quite good. There is a pedestrain flyover there, and you can take good photos of aircraft parked there. From here, you could also see how the aircraft lands and departs HKG. It's a really exciting place. Photography there is good.
To get there, it is quite inconvenient. You have to take a taxi from the airport and get off somewhere near the Hong Kong Trade Mart, or you could just ask the driver to go there. Another way to get there is to take a bus. If your hotel is in Tsim Sha Tsui or on the MTR station line, you can first go to the Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, and then get bus no. is 219X or 98D. It'll pass through the Airport Tunnel. Once it leaves the tunnel, you should alight there. Otherwise, you could get a free minicab service from Kowloon Bay MTR Station to HK Trade Mart.
Chun Seen Mei Chuen
This is an estate next to the the beginning of the runway 13. It is situated in Fu Ning Street, near the Fire Station. One of the building inside is suitable for photographing, Chi Chun House. The place for photographing is on 11/F. Please note that this is a place where residents live near by, and please be well behaved when you spot there. A 10 minutes walk from terminal building of HKG is required to get there. The final IGS turning approach is obtainable from there. Photogrpahy there is excellent.
Richland Gardens Carpark Roof
Richland Gardens is an estate with very high buildings in the east of the airport. It has great aerial view if you live in one of the flats facing the airport. However, the aircraft noise is extremely annoying; so many residents have their air-conditioning on all the time.
Back to spotting, its carpark roof is the only place where you could catch the whole view on Cargo apron, HAECO and East Apron. You can clearly see the operations outside the Cargo Terminal and HAECO. Becareful there, since there are a number of security guards on the carpark roof.
The carpark is accessible by getting a green minibus from Kowloon Bay MTR station, or getting a bus route no.1A or 40 opposite to the airport and alight when you see the eastern apron. Go down the tunnel and follow the signs to Richland Gardens. Photography there is good.
Choi Hung Estate
This is another estate next to the the eastern apron of the airport. One of the building, at Luk Lau Avenue, called Pik Hoi House, facing the airport, can get good pictures to the eastern apron. You have to go take the lift to at least 10/F in order to get clear pictures. You can also walk upstairs to 20/F to have a bird's eye view too. Buses opposite the airport like route no. 5 can go to the estate. The building is just outside the bus terminus. Please note that this is a residential area and spotting should be carried out without disturbing others. Photography there is good.
Kowloon City Plaza Carpark Roof
Kowloon City Plaza is very near to the airport, just 5-minute walk from the airport. The plaza is at Carpenter Road. It therefore can have a very near and clear view on the aircraft turning towards RWY13. The plaza is very busy on public holidays and weekends. It is a good place for shopping also. You can take photos from its rooftop carpark. Photography there is okay.
HITEC Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Center
This is the large building near the runway. It can get good pictures from its upper floors if you know where to get pictures. It is not recommended to go there except that you are very familiar with the building. This is just an option and as it is a private place, full details on taking pictures from the building will not be given here. Photography there is good.
Other Aviation-related Places
Besides doing spotting, some places are worth going if you have time. The following places are those you will be interested as they are all related to aviation:
New Airport at Chek Lap Kok and Tsing Ma Bridge
Although it is not open to public yet, you can step on the island where the new airport situates! You can travel on the longest suspension bridge, Tsing Ma Bridge, and then to the new airport! Buses are available to go there. Take a E22 airport bus opposite of the airport, which is to Chek Lap Kok Airport. You can clearly see the bridge and can alight at the satellie town Tung Chung, which is next to the airport. This is a MUST activity nowadays to visit the Tsing Ma Bridge! When the new airport opens, it is the only way to travel to Downtown!
New Airport Tourist Center
This center features with the most-detailed information on the new airport plan. With videos, exhibition and a leisure place for watching the marvelous Tsing Ma Bridge. The place, although, is very far away from town center, still worth visiting. Alight at Tsuen Wan MTR Station. Walk along Tai Ho Road. Take bus no. 53 or 234B at Tsuen Wan Ferry Pier. Alight after you see a very huge suspension bridge (not Tsing Ma Bridge) which before reaching the center. Ask for instructions from your hotel crew before going there.
Hong Kong Science Museum
The special feature in this museum is its display aircraft model. Not model really, it is a real aeroplane! Cathay Pacific DC-3 Betsy was hanged on the ceiling in its exhibition room! It worths to go there and see this lovely aeroplane! The Hong Kong Science Museum is in Tsimshatsui, about 10 minutes walk from Tsimshatsui MTR station.
Cathay Pacific Ticketing Office
Why I suggest this is that many spotters asked me where I can buy Cathay Pacific souvenirs and model planes! The ticketing office is the only place (except on their flights) that you can buy its products. They have airplane models (All series, including the Spirit of Hong Kong 97), caps, pens, T-shirts, umbrellas... It is situated at 4/F, West Wing, Swire House, 9 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong. The building is next to Central MTR Station.
Wings of Asia
This is the first aviation hobby shop in Hong Kong. It has high-quality civil and military books, maps, pilot accessories, posters, videos and others related to aviation. Many pilots and spotters visit them when they come to Hong Kong. The shop is situated at Room 704, Block A, Seaview Estate, 2-8 Watson Road, North Point, Hong Kong. You can alight at North Point MTR Station and take a 10-minute walk towards the seaside; or you can take Airbus A5 from the airport and alight after leaving the Victoria Park.
Airliners
This is another aviation hobby. It mainly sells large plastic civil aeroplanes; but also has books and other souvenirs. However, the price is very high for its airplanes comparing with overseas selling price in US and UK. The shop, however, does provide a lot of display of lovely airplanes. Worth a visit. It is situated at Shop T29, 3/F, Phase I, Lok Fu Shopping Centre, Kowloon, Hong Kong. You can go there by MTR and alight at Lok Fu Station; or get an Airbus A7 from the airport and alight at Lok Fu Bus Terminus.
Universal Models Limited
UML is the dealer of Herpa Wings model in Hong Kong. They have a comprehensive supply of Herpa Wings airplanes, other plastic snap-together airplanes, Schabak planes, and Hasegawa model planes. All models are quite cheap when compared with other countries. They have branches at Waterloo Road, the In-Square, Plaza Hollywood and Silvercord Center.
Other Key Tourist Visiting Spots
Hong Kong is a lovely city and should be explored by yourself. Some places that you must visit (or at least you go to see it) is the Peak, Star Ferry, Wong Tai Sin Temple, Floating Restaurant, Ocean Park, Cultural Center, Victoria Harbour, Repulse Bay, Stanley, Po Lin Monastery etc. You can first gather information from the Hong Kong Tourist Association to check out for local tours and other information on these tourist spots.
Before planning a visit to Hongkong, you should make a careful plan in accomodation. Also, please pay attention to the weather forecast since Hongkong's weather is quite unstable. The best season for visiting Hongkong, I recommend, is between March and May, and October and December. During summer, it would be too hot (28-30C) for tourists living in US and Europe. In spring and autumn, the temperature is around 15-20 degree Celsius.
Also, please don't be too optimistic to have airplane photography at HKG, since the skies above Hong Kong is not very good in these few years. There are always haze and the visibility is not very high. The skies are usually grey or unclear. Pictures with blue skies will be difficult to get and during summer, raining is frequent and fog is common is spring. In winter, due to the change of wind direction, HKG usually uses RWY31.
The new airport at Chek Lap Kok will open in April 1998. There will be other new spotting places available after the opening of the new airport.
If you have any queries about spotting in Hong Kong, or if you have anything you wish to know about Hong Kong, don't hesitate to ask me. You can e-mail me at cchris@hkstar.com
Have a good trip in Hongkong!
Frequency List of HKG ATC
Click here to retrieve the frequecies of HKG ATC, so that you can tune the right channel to hear the operations of HKG ATC.
Hong Kong Tourist Association
Click here to go to Hong Kong Tourist Association to get more info of this beautiful city, HONG KONG.
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