Reading up on the old Hong Kong airport Kai Tak, I'm left with the question as to why the planes didn't land from the sea?
I know that takeoff was done towards the sea, but is there any reason that you couldn't land from the same direction you take off? Or is this less feasible due to traffic?
It otherwise seems to me that largely congested airport areas could (have) benefitted from bi-directional use of the runways. And I don't think wind direction could have made much of an impact for Kowloon, given the mountains and skyscrapers everywhere.
This question seem to suggest that landing and takeoff in/from the same direction is not standard in aviation, but with very limited details.