Three and a half years after the Airport Authority Hongkong (AAHK) announced a HK$4.5 billion (US$580.6 million) terminal upgrade project, its recently released 2008/09 annual report shows renovation works are on track.
A total of 19 enhancements to both the passenger terminal building and airfield of the Hongkong International Airport (HKIA) are scheduled to finish by 2011. Of the 19 enhancements, a number have already been completed.
Within the airport terminal, the restricted area of the departures hall now boasts an added 1,670sqm of retail space and more than 200 new LCD monitors in check-in aisles, baggage reclaim, departure and arrival halls.
Reconfiguration works are also underway to allow passengers to clear security before proceeding to immigration, increasing efficiency and security screening capacity by about 40 percent.
The number of airline and ferry transfer desks has been increased and two security screening channels added.
Also on the list of completed works is the widening of taxiway shoulders and repositioning of runway holding points for the Airbus A380, the first of which will be flown into Hongkong by Singapore Airlines and arrives at HKIA on July 1.
In addition, a permanent SkyPier, which offers ferry services to destinations in the Pearl River Delta region, and a North Satellite Concourse featuring 10 bridge-served stands for smaller narrow-bodied aircraft will be put into operation by the end of this year.
“Projects under the enhancement programme have been making good progress while some of them have already completed and are running well now,” said an AAHK spokesperson.
The AAHK is also currently working on the HKIA Master Plan 2030, which looks at updating air traffic forecasts, predicting capacity requirements and future development and growth strategies.
One of the major airports in Asia-Pacific, HKIA handled 47.7 million passengers in the year ending March 31, a drop of 2.5 percent from the same period a year before.
For more information on HKIA, visit www.hkairport.com
Joshua Tan
