The archive · PR & Stunts · Marketing decision · 2025
Cathay re-flies the legendary Kai Tak low-altitude landing over the new stadium
To revive Cathay's brand in Hong Kong, Leo Hong Kong got approval to fly a real A350 through the city's legendary low-altitude Kai Tak approach on opening day.
Cathay
What it had to solve
Kai Tak was Hong Kong's airport until 1998, famous for a 47-degree low-altitude turn that skimmed apartment rooftops; no aircraft had flown the approach since. The new Kai Tak Stadium — built where the runway once stood — opened with the Hong Kong Sevens, and Cathay, the title sponsor, was facing its worst local sentiment in six years.
How it works
Kai Tak's Runway 13 approach was among aviation's most dramatic: aircraft made a 47-degree turn below 500 feet, passing within metres of apartment buildings, several times an hour, until the airport closed in 1998. What remained were photographs and the memories of people who watched from their rooftops.
In 2025 the Kai Tak Stadium opened on the old runway site and hosted the first edition of the Hong Kong Sevens there. Cathay — title sponsor of the tournament and an airline that had begun operations at Kai Tak in the 1940s — was also facing its weakest local sentiment in six years.
With government approval, a Cathay A350 flew the old low-altitude route across Victoria Harbour. Thirty thousand spectators inside the stadium watched it live while the pilots narrated the approach; official photos and social footage followed within 24 hours and spread without paid distribution.
Hong Kong's sentiment toward Cathay turned positive for the first time in six years and has remained positive since. A documentary about the flight reached nine million views in a city of roughly seven million, and the work took the Grande Outdoor Lotus at ADFEST 2026 plus a Silver Outdoor Lion at Cannes 2026.
Why it lands
- Turns a collective memory into an owned, physical event
- One real act carries more emotional force than any representation of it
- Reconnects the brand to where it literally started, reinforcing its Hong Kong identity
- Built to be watched by a stadium crowd and shared with an entire city
What it did
Hong Kong's positive sentiment toward Cathay returned for the first time in six years and has stayed positive since. A documentary of the flight drew nine million views in a city of about seven million people, and photos spread within 24 hours without paid distribution. Won the Grande Outdoor Lotus at ADFEST 2026 and a Silver Outdoor Lion at Cannes 2026.
What you can take
When a brand is losing emotional ground, don't advertise the memory — re-perform it: one owned, historically loaded place plus one real, impossible-feeling act can out-earn any media buy.
Since then
The flight became the centerpiece of Cathay's brand recovery and a staple case study across Asian award shows: Grande Outdoor Lotus at ADFEST 2026 (plus a Brand Experience finalist) and a Silver Outdoor Lion at Cannes 2026. Cathay has since extended the theme through 'Taking Off Again with Kai Tak', an aviation-themed experience along the stadium's West Bridge.
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