In 1928 the Kadoorie family opened the Peninsula Hong Kong at a time when the skies were dominated by flying boats. Â Qantas, BOAC & Imperial Airways all flew the Empire Flying Boats, however it was Pan American Airways System (what Pan Am was originally known as) who pioneered the use of flying boats with their Clippers.
The first flying boat for Pan Am was the â€œChina Clipperâ€ and it flew its first commercial flight from San Francisco to Manila in the Philippines. Â In 1936 the first Clipper (named Philippine Clipper) touched down in Victoria Harbor just off Kai Tak with Juan Trippe, President of Pan American, on-board. Â That night as Juan Trippe stayed as a guest at the Peninsula, little would he know that 58 years later (1994) a tribute to the very aircraft he arrived on, would open in that same hotel.