Sam Chui

Sam Chui (born 7 November 1980) is a Chinese-Australian aviation and travel vlogger, photographer, and author.

Early life
Sam Chui was born on 7 November 1980 in Beijing, China. When he was a child, his parents moved to Hong Kong. While growing up, Chui says he often visited Hong Kong's former airport, Kai Tak Airport, and watched planes land.

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 captured from helicopters.

In 2019, Chui was invited onto a Boeing 747-SP private jet owned previously by the Qatari Royal Family and he flew from Hamilton, Canada, to Marana, Arizona as the only passenger. In 2019, he flew to Rome on an El Al Israel Airlines Boeing 747.

Chui has a keen interest for the Boeing 747. 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, visited Lukla in Nepal and taken the longest non-stop flight from Singapore to Newark. 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 (NBAA) to publish highlights from the 2021 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).

Controversies
In 2022 it was reported by several Nepalese online media that Chui was allowed into the cockpit by Nepal Airlines Chief Pilot Vijaya Lama during boarding in Dubai. The Nepalese Civil Aviation Authorities started an investigation. Lama denied these claims in an interview later.

In May 2023 Chui was suspected of violating Taiwan’s Aircraft Flight Operation Regulations due to photos and videos of him inside the flight deck on Starlux's inaugural flight from Taipei to Los Angeles. The plane was piloted by Starlux Founder and Chair Chang Kuo-wei and he faced a fine of 60,000 NT$ due to the safety violation. It was determined that both parties actually followed safety protocol and Chui's flight deck visits only occurred when the plane was not in flight: the vessel was on the ground with its engines turned off and the door was open.