FAQs

1. Who is eligible to join?

You are eligible to apply if you:

• live in Hong Kong
• are a full-time student in a Hong Kong secondary school (or equivalent international schools or vocational training schools)
• aged 14 to 18 and are in Form 3 to Form 6 (or the equivalent academic levels)
• are able to communicate in English and Cantonese
• have a passion for aviation and to serve the community

We support diversity and inclusion, and reserve a certain allotment for participants from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds to take part in the programme.

2. How can I apply for the I Can Fly Programme 2024?

Check out detailed instructions on the Join us page and do the necessary preparation before filling in the form. This includes understanding the programme, requesting your school to complete a nomination form, preparing two short essays and information about your past experiences and activities as well as getting the consent of your parent/legal guardian. Each school can nominate up to 10 students to join the programme. The school nomination form should be completed and submitted on or before 26 November 2023 23.59 (HKT).

3. How many participants will you recruit this year?

We expect to recruit about 300 participants.

4. When is the deadline for application?

Application and school nomination form should be submitted on or before 26 November 2023 23.59 (HKT).

5. What are the requirements for completing the school nomination form?

Each school can nominate up to 10 students to apply for the I Can Fly programme. The school nomination form can be downloaded here or in application form. It should be completed by a staff representative of the school with signature, school chop and contact information. The information collected from the nomination form will be served as reference in the selection procedure. All information will be destroyed after that.

6. What is the selection criteria?

Cathay supports diversity and inclusion, and welcome people from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds to join the programme. Selection criteria will be based on the following areas: participants’ interest in aviation, personal qualities (motivation to excel, willingness to learn), social service experiences, environmental protection experiences, participations in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) activities, leadership, creativity, and command of English.

7. When will the result be announced?

Successful applicants will be notified via email or by post no later than end of December, 2023.

8. I have participated I Can Fly Programme before, can I participate again?

All participants can join the I Can Fly programme once only.

9. When will the programme commence?

The overview of the 2024 programme can be found here . More details will be communicated to the successful applicants later.

10. Will the activities affect my normal school days? Will they take place during weekends and holidays? Will they overlap with examination periods?

All scheduled activities will take place during weekends, while the aviation experiential trip will take place during the summer holidays.

11. What should I do if I am unable to attend the assigned activity?

Every participant has the responsibility to attend all scheduled events. To be eligible for the aviation experiential trip, participants should attend at least 85% of all activities.

12. Can we take pictures during the events?

Participants are allowed to take pictures, provided that they have gained the consent of their employee leaders, venue providers and parties concerned in advance.

13. Can my parents/friends take part in the activities?

The I Can Fly programme is for participants only.

14. What will I learn from the programme?

The programme specially combines aviation know-how and the essence of social service. Apart from helping those in need, participants can make new friends and explore the world of aviation through meeting different aviation professionals and visiting aviation-related facilities.

15. How many participants will be selected to join the aviation experiential trip? How will they be selected?

In the 2024 programme, outstanding participants will be selected to join the aviation experiential trip. Selection criteria include their overall participation, teamwork, and engagement, performance, learning attitude, progress and attendance.

16. What kind of trainings and visits will be included in the I Can Fly Programme 2024?

Details will be provided to successful applicants later. You may check out details in this website.

17. Do participants need to pay for the aviation experiential trip?

Activity costs (including meals, hotel accommodation, and transportation at the destination and air tickets) will be covered by Cathay.

18. How will the participants be grouped?

Participants will be divided into groups. They will remain in the same group throughout the programme. Each group will be led by Cathay pilot leaders, employee leaders and alumni coordinators. All participants are required to show respect and pay attention to the instructions of their respective leaders at all times.

19. Will I be able to swap the group with another participant?

The groupings are formed after careful consideration and therefore we will only consider requests to swap groups in exceptional circumstances.

20. Do I have to compete with other participants within or outside the group?

The objective of the programme is to promote aviation and encourage youngsters to contribute to society. By forming small groups to work towards a project, members can develop team spirit and leadership skills. We encourage participants to share their experience and learn from each other, which is undoubtedly more important than competing with each other.