A blue-sky treat for first-time fliers
Many of the Tung Chung families chosen for Cathay Pacific Airways' 'community responsibility' programme wanted to make sure they were well rested for the first flight of their lives yesterday. So they went to bed early. Very early.
'They all went to bed at about 8pm and woke up at about 7am,' said Li Yun-wai, whose two-year-old son, Kwok-tung, and two older daughters joined him on the flight.
Ng Yee-wan, a resident of Yat Tung Estate, brought her 74-year-old mother, Chung Yau-yee, onboard.
Despite living less than a 20-minute drive from the airport, an excited Ms Ng said she went to bed at 10pm and awoke at 5am, even though the flight did not leave the airport until 11.15am.
Cathay Pacific's headquarters is in Tung Chung and the airline offered residents the opportunity to fly as part of a programme to reach out to the community.
And most of the 170 passengers were delighted - with the spacious seats, in-flight entertainment and even the meals, during a two-hour flight around the South China Sea.
'I was very excited when we took off. This is more comfortable than taking the bus,' Ms Ng said. 'Even though I didn't get to sit by the window, I was overjoyed.'
She said she had heard bad reports about airline meals but the pan-fried fillet of chicken in onion sauce with rice tasted better than she had expected.
Eagle Ng Man-ching, a Form Five student who - with some of her schoolmates - were guests of a teacher, said she never thought ice-cream bars would be served.
'I was delighted,' Eagle said. 'I wanted to eat it right away, but it was too hard for me to bite with my braces, so I just left it aside to wait until it melted a bit.'
Living under the city's grey sky blocked with impurities every day, Eagle did not expect there would still be a blue sky above the clouds sheltering the city.
'The sky was very beautiful when I looked outside.'
