The first direct London to Hong Kong flight 70 years ago took a total of 37 hours
- The BOAC Argonaut had pressurised cabins, allowing it to operate at twice the speed and altitude of its comparatively cumbersome counterparts
- The first flight, which took off from Heathrow on August 23, 1949, arrived in Hong Kong three days late
The first direct commercial flights between London and Hong Kong began 70 years ago – on August 23, 1949 – with the launch of a British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) service from Heathrow. BOAC flying boats were already coming out from Southampton, but the airline’s new four-engine Canadair Argonaut aircraft had pressurised cabins, allowing them to operate at twice the speed and altitude of their comparatively cumbersome counterparts. They could also fly much further without refuelling, and carried more than twice as many long-haul passengers.
The first Argonaut was due to arrive from Heathrow on August 26, but engine trouble forced a delay in Karachi. It eventually got here three days late, after a total of 37 hours in the air.
Up to 40 passengers flying from Hong Kong to London, it was reported locally, could now look forward to in-flight comforts including “a ladies’ powder room painted in dainty pale blue and fitted with a dressing table” and adjustable seats “upholstered in corporation blue Bedford cord”. Gentlemen were given a dove-grey dressing room with two washbasins and electric razor sockets. At the rear of the cabin was a lounge area with a semicircular six-seat sofa with a folding table, and all needs and desires were fulfilled by “two stewards and a stewardess”.
Unfortunately the five Argonauts deployed on the route were grounded due to a mechanical glitch, just as the second flight was due to depart Hong Kong. They were reinstated in mid October, and soon Hongkongers were flying to London twice weekly in modern comfort, albeit with overnight hotel stops in Rangoon, Karachi and Cairo. More spacious, but also more susceptible to bad weather and turbulence, and taking five or six days to reach England, the last of the BOAC flying boats took off from Victoria Harbour in 1951.
Cebu Pacific launches direct flight from Hong Kong to Palawan
Some of the world’s most beautiful beaches will be just a short hop away starting later this month, when low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific finally launches the first non-stop scheduled flights between Hong Kong and Puerto Princesa, on the Philippine island of Palawan. Cebu Pacific – which made Hong Kong its first international destination back in November 2001 – will operate four flights a week with an Airbus A320 from November 17, departing Hong Kong at 7.30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and at 8pm on Saturdays. Return flights will leave Puerto Princesa at 3.35pm or 4.05pm on those same days.
Penguin publishes a book of classical Japanese travel writing
Covering more than a millennium of occasionally ponderous but usually very evocative and illuminating travellers’ tales, Travels with a Writing Brush: Classical Japanese Travel Writing from the Manyoshu to Basho is published this month by Penguin Classics. Perhaps most likely to appeal to those heading for Japan, especially on walking holidays, this collection of songs, stories, diary extracts, haiku and other poetic forms will take the reader on a 400-page journey of literary discovery “over mountains and along perilous shores”.
Deal of the week – two nights at the Banyan Tree Yangshuo
A two-night stay at the luxurious Banyan Tree Yangshuo Resort is on sale at Tiglion Travel from HK$4,090 per person, twin share. As well as round-trip flights to Guilin with Cathay Dragon and round-trip transfers between the airport and resort, this price also covers one rafting trip on the Li River, a set dinner at the resort, and evening drinks and snacks in the lobby lounge.
