It is critical to enhance capacity to meet demand, says report
The Airport Authority will soon begin feasibility studies on building a third runway at Chek Lap Kok, according to a document outlining its 20-year vision released yesterday.
The report, HKIA 2025, which charts a course for long-term development of Hong Kong International Airport, says it is critical to enhance the airport's runway capacity to meet growing demand.
While the authority would explore how to maximise capacity of the two existing runways, authority chairman Victor Fung Kwok-king said Hong Kong needed to start thinking of a third runway at Chek Lap Kok.
'In five to 10 years' time, the third runway will be a real issue. We need to talk about it now because there are a lot of factors which need careful consideration. For example, there are a lot of environmental concerns at possible sites where the runway can be built. We have to balance the cost-effectiveness and how much environmental cost are we prepared to pay.'
The authority had not made any decisions, Mr Fung said.
According to the report, by 2025 the airport will serve 80 million passengers, handle 8 million tonnes of cargo and 490,000 aircraft movements each year.
