WHEN Lai See has moments of generosity, we offer to pick up the tab for a typhoon taxi.
When a serious taipan such as Hongkong Bank chairman John Gray takes it into his head to do a few pals a favour, he goes not just one, but many better - he offers to pick up the tab for the plane.
That is what happened on Monday night after British Airways flight BA27 from London found itself low on fuel and unable to land at Kai Tak during Typhoon Sibyl.
The flight was diverted to Guangzhou where the cabin crew appeared to have serious doubts about whether the plane's special aviation fuel credit card would be welcome at the airport.
At that point Mr Gray stepped forward, introduced himself and suggested he might be able to help.
'I wasn't going to produce a $10,000 note or anything,' Mr Gray told Lai See . 'But I thought my good offices might be of some assistance. I suppose I could have used my Hongkong Bank card.' Mr Gray, who used to fly in the Hong Kong air auxiliary himself, also commended the pilot on his landing: 'It was excellent, in really difficult conditions.' Actually, BA has a deal with China Southern to handle such emergencies, but we imagine that by the time the official channels had been gone through, the mention of Mr Gray's name had been enough and the plane was already filled up and having its tyres, oil and water checked, windshield polished, interior valeted and 'your money is no good here, sir'.