On 22 August, HAECO Hong Kong welcomed a special guest - Cathay Pacific’s “youngest pilot”, 10-year-old Nok-him - to its hangar facility. Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, the little boy loves to do technical drawings of aircraft and wishes of becoming a pilot. Initiated by the charity Make-A-Wish Hong Kong and with the support of Cathay Pacific and HAECO Hong Kong, a two-day wish journey was arranged for Nok-him.

The journey started when Nok-him received his “employment letter” from Cathay Pacific, and his pilot training began. Dressed in a tailored pilot uniform with a hat and name badge, Nok-him attended practical training in Cathay Pacific’s Flight Training Centre. Even though it was his first time in a Boeing 747-8F simulator, he managed to successfully make two take-offs and three landings.

On the second day, there was a big surprise for Nok-him as he was given the chance to visit a real aircraft at HAECO Hong Kong’s facility at HKIA. Kevin Kruger, Director and General Manager of HAECO Hong Kong, and Bosco Mui, Executive General Manager, Operations Support, greeted Nok-him and presented him with a bag of gifts, including a mechanic’s uniform and a torch for maintenance checks. Then, the HAECO team took him to visit one of Cathay Pacific’s Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. Accompanied by a Cathay Pacific pilot, Nok-him sat in the flight deck and was even able to carry out some of the pilot’s regular duties, including making an announcement over the intercom and doing a pre-flight walk-around check of the aircraft. Everyone was thrilled to see Nok-him fulfilling his wish. The HAECO visit made a perfect end to the wish journey.

Make-A-Wish Hong Kong is a member of Make-A-Wish Foundation International, dedicated to creating life-changing wishes for children with critical illness. To date, Make-A-Wish Hong Kong has realised nearly 2,000 children’s wishes.