The Airport Authorities of Hong Kong (AAHK) has turned to the public regarding a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), an infrastructure feature that Cathay Pacific and subsidiary Dragonair believe is urgently needed.
Cathay Pacific Airways was quoted as saying that it gives “its full and unequivocal backing for the building of a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport (option 2).”
With HKIA is expected to reach its maximum passenger capacity of 87 million passengers by 2017, the airport authority released its 20-year blueprint for a three-month stakeholder and public consultation period to raise capacity. The Master Plan 2030 proposes two options.
Option one would expand terminal 1 and apron facilities, enabling the airport to handle 420,000 flight movements per year and 74 million passengers. However, these developments will only meet air traffic demand until 2020, when the airport will reach its maximum capacity and become saturated again.
Option two involves building a third runway; an idea first proposed by a Hong Kong think tank and was later supported by IATA (see stories here and here). This option would be able to handle 620,000 flights per year and 97 million passengers.
John Slosar, chief executive of Cathay Pacific, said at a recent press conference that even though HKIA is “the winning horse in the race now, the race isn’t over yet,” alluding to competition from regional airline hubs in Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore and Mainland China. All of these are planning to develop more runways and increase capacities.
He highlighted that the primary pillars of Hong Kong’s economy – finance, law, trade and tourism – are all international in nature and therefore maintaining Hong Kong as a hub is essential for the economy. According to a Chinese University study, a third runway would create an annual economic contribution of HK$37 billion (US$4 billion).
The public is invited to submit their views and comments to the Social Sciences Research Centre (SSRC) of the University of Hong Kong. The public consultation period will end on September 2, 2011.
Alisha Haridasani
