Everyone who moves into CityHome eventually asks the same question: what is the aeroplane doing on the lawn?
A runway that ran into the sea
Kai Tak airport had one runway, numbered 13/31. Runway numbers come from magnetic heading — landing north-west to south-east was 13 (130°), the other way was 31 (310°). This one was built out on reclaimed land from the Kowloon peninsula into Victoria Harbour, with water on both sides.
It was famous not for being long, but for being hard. Aircraft coming in on 13 could not line up straight. They flew towards Kowloon City instead, watched for a red-and-white checkerboard painted on the hillside, then banked right roughly 47° at low altitude to straighten up before touching down. From the end of that turn to the wheels hitting the ground was a matter of seconds, with tenement rooftops and washing lines passing under the wing.
Pilots who flew into Kai Tak tend to remember it for the rest of their lives. In July 1998 the last flight left, the runway lights went out, and that was the end of it.
Empty for years, then used twice
After the airport closed, the reclaimed land sat empty for a long time.
In 2022 the Kai Tak community isolation facility was built here with central government support, covering roughly 100,000 square metres of site and floor area — rows of modular units laid out along the old runway, among the largest such facilities in Hong Kong at the time.
In 2025 the same buildings were put back to use: repainted, given external stairs and sports courts, and reopened as a youth platform putting housing, art, culture, sport and music on one plot.
The runway is still here, just used differently
The village doesn’t hide its past. It points at it.
A retired Government Flying Service turboprop sits on the grass, B-HRS painted on the fuselage, next to a set of rainbow-coloured RUNWAY 1331 letters — the easiest landmark on site to find, and the most photographed thing here. Between the blocks, a runway centreline is painted down the walkways: long dashes at regular intervals, the same rhythm as the real thing.
The village sits next to the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and Runway Park. Walk out of CityHome along the promenade and Victoria Harbour is on your right, with the Hong Kong skyline across the water.
Why any of this matters
Because it changes how the place feels.
Treated as “some newly finished apartments”, it is just housing. But once you know why the path you walk every day has dashes painted down it — and that the water outside your window is where aircraft used to turn in over the rooftops — living here is a different experience.
When you come to see a room, walk over to the lawn and have a look at the aircraft.