Sam Chui (; zh, link=no, 崔佳星; born 7 November 1980) is a Chinese-born Australian aviation and travel

vlog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

ger, photographer, and author. He has written four books including ''Air1'', ''Air2'', ''Air 3'', and ''Air747''. Chui is also a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

content creator. He is considered to be one of the world's most popular aviation bloggers and airline reviewers.

Early life

Sam Chui was born on 7 November 1980 in

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. When he was a child, his parents moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. As a teenager, Chui often visited

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

(Hong Kong's old airport) and watched planes land and take off.

Career

In 1999, Chui started a website, publishing photos of aircraft. It has since expanded to include current events regarding aviation. He is known for overhead pictures of

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

captured from helicopters. In 2007, he started his

YouTube channel YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most v ...

and became well-known. Some of his videos gathered an excess of 60 million views. Chui has traveled to over 100 countries and flown over 2,000 flights. He travels more than 300,000 miles every year to test out flights and share his reviews. In 2019, Chui was invited onto a Boeing 747-SP private jet owned previously by the Qatari Royal Family and he flew from

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Canada, to

Marana Marana may refer to: * Maraña, a village in León, Spain * Maraṇa, the Pali/Sanskrit term for death * Marana, Arizona, a town in Pima County, Arizona, United States * Marana, Estonia, a village in Estonia * Marana, Syria, a village in Syria ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

as the only passenger. In 2019, he flew to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on an

El Al El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...

Israel Airlines Boeing 747. Chui has a keen interest for the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

. He has logged over a million miles on 279 747 flights and has flown on every commercial variant of the 747 across 37 operators from around the world. His first flight on a Boeing 747 was in 1993 onboard United Airlines Flight 800 from Hong Kong to Tokyo Narita. Chui has flown on 240 airlines and 180 aircraft types. He has flown New York to London on Concorde, landed on a glacier in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, visited Lukla in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

and taken the longest non-stop flight from

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

. He was the sole passenger aboard the world’s only privately-owned Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Chui received his Private Pilot License in the USA in July 2021. He has also worked for the

National Business Aviation Association The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is a non-profit, 501(c)(6) organization based in Washington, DC, United States. NBAA’s mission, according to the non-profit data and transparency organization GuideStar, is: “to foster an en ...

(NBAA) to publish highlights from the 2021 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).

Books

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chui, Sam 1980 births Living people Chinese male bloggers Australian male bloggers Australian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Chinese YouTubers Australian YouTubers Chinese emigrants to Australia