John Travolta's much-publicised touchdown in Hong Kong never happened, it emerged yesterday. The Hollywood star was in fact refused permission to land his plane at Chek Lap Kok and had to land in Macau instead.
Despite the fanfare surrounding the star's plan to pilot his Boeing 707 into the SAR on Monday as part of a world tour sponsored by Qantas, Travolta was forced to land at Macau airport because his jet was too noisy for Chek Lap Kok.
The change of location was a repeat of an incident in April 1999 in which the dedicated pilot had to head for Macau to land his jet after failing to get permission from the SAR.
However, at a media conference on Wednesday, Travolta, 48, gave an account of his view of Chek Lap Kok airport when questioned by the press, giving the impression he had landed his 30-year-old jet there. 'It's new and modern and very beautiful. And I enjoyed my landing, it was very smooth. I'm very happy with that,' he said.
He also mentioned his jet had been subject to noise restrictions at the Hong Kong airport, causing him to land in Macau. But most reporters assumed he was referring to the 1999 incident, given his remark on Chek Lap Kok.
A spokeswoman for Qantas confirmed yesterday that Travolta, who left for Tokyo yesterday, had landed his plane in Macau because the Boeing 707 did not meet some of Chek Lap Kok's landing regulations regarding noise level. 'He did mention at the press conference that he landed in Macau. But he wasn't extremely clear on that,' she said.