Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is an important regional trans-shipment centre, passenger hub and gateway. In order to understand more about the future development and some of the daily operations of HKIA, a visit to the HKIA has been arranged on February 17, 2012.

In the visit, there was a talk presented by Mr. Martin and Mr. Kelvin. At the beginning, Mr. Martin explained about the future development of HKIA, which is about the Master plan 2030; then Mr. Kelvin talked about the sustainable development of the HKIA.

The main focus of the Master Plan 2030 is to improve the overall capacity and aircraft handling ability of the airport. There are two plans for public consultation and here are the details of the two options:

Option 1: Two-runway system

This system is to maintain the current two-runway system; meanwhile there will be enhancements to the terminal and apron facilities to increase the airport's capacity. Under this system, the airport is able to handle a maximum of 420,000 flight movements per year, increase annual passenger to 74 million and six million tons of cargo per year. The approximate cost of this plan is $23.4 billion Hong Kong Dollars. However, the Airport Authority (AA) estimates that the airport will reach its maximum runway capacity sometime around 2020 if no extra runway is being added.

Option 2: Three-runway system

This system is to reclaim about 650 hectares of land to the north of Chek Lap Kok, and build the third runway on it. Besides, the additional terminals, airfield and apron facilities will also be built. It is estimated that the airport would be able to handle a maximum of 620,000 flights, about 97 million passengers and 8.9 million tons of cargo per year. And the estimated cost is approximately $86.2 billion Hong Kong Dollars

No matter which option will be adopted, environmental and local noise, air, water and solid waste pollution problems exist. With the target of being the Best and the Greenest airport...