“Parking checklist completed.”
I said it with a grin I couldn’t hide. We had just finished a long two-leg trip—Kota Kinabalu to Taipei, then Taipei to Fukuoka. My body was tired, but my mind was buzzing. I looked over at my Captain and practically beamed: “FINALLY, WE ARE HERE IN JAPAN!”
The Visual Challenge: Landing in Fukuoka
Fukuoka is a special destination for any pilot. Many Captains aren’t fond of the visual approach into Runway 34R because it’s a break from the conventional instrument landings (ILS) we usually do. In this “office,” things get technical very quickly.
ATC vectors us downwind from the sea, and as we turn, we actually fly right over our own hotel—the Hilton Fukuoka Seahawk. It’s a beautiful but demanding “dance.” You’re flying into mountainous terrain, monitoring your distance and height with eagle eyes, before banking left onto the final. It can get incredibly windy, making the Captain’s job a physical workout and my job as FO a high-stakes game of monitoring every variable. But seeing the city open up beneath you as you navigate the terrain is a reminder of why I fought so hard to get back here.
The Transformation
The moment I hit my room at the Hilton, the pilot persona stays at the door. I drop my bags, take one look at the sea view and the Fukuoka Tower glowing in the night, and quickly change into civilian clothes. The tiredness disappears when there’s a crew dinner on the horizon.
There’s a specific ritual to the nightstop: grab your cash, grab your keycard, and meet the crew in the lobby. We go from being a flight deck team to just a group of friends looking for good food.
Mentorship Over a Seafood Pot: Incheon
While Fukuoka is about the technical thrill of the approach, other nightstops like Incheon (ICN) are about the people. I remember one specific trip to Seoul with a Captain named Adam. It was June, and it was a bittersweet flight for him—it was his very last nightstop operating out of BKI before transferring back to KUL.
He brought me to a local spot near our hotel that served a superb seafood pot. Captain Adam was a wealth of knowledge; he had been through the industry’s highs and lows, including his years at Malaysia Airlines before joining the AirAsia family. He told me he usually preferred to hang out alone during stops, but he chose to spend his final night out with me to share his favorite spots and life lessons.
We sat there for hours talking about career growth and the “long game” of aviation. It wasn’t just a dinner; it was a masterclass in professional longevity. He showed me that even in a massive airline, the personal connections and the passing down of experience are what keep the culture alive.
Never Taking the Luxury for Granted
Every time I lie down in a clean, air-conditioned hotel bed in a foreign city, I think back to my “survival mode” days during COVID. I remember the stuffy heat of my room in JB—the sweat, the noise, and the weight of a debt that felt like it would never end.
I never take these hotels for granted. The “luxury” of a nightstop isn’t the fancy lobby or the sea view; it’s the peace of mind. I went from selling houses to navigating the mountains of Japan and the streets of Korea. It was a long flight with a lot of turbulence, but standing here now, I’m glad I didn’t divert.