AUTHORITIES are being urged to proceed with plans for a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport to safeguard connectivity, with IATA citing “near saturation” of the current runways.
“Hong Kong outperforms its population size on the world stage because of its connectivity. That drives the economy and creates jobs. To protect the airport’s competitiveness, sufficient capacity is needed to support growth,” said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO.
According to IATA, the airport handled 51 million passengers in 2010 and is already operating at about 90 per cent of capacity.
In April, public consultations on the Airport Master Plan 2030 will open with a third runway being considered.
“The phenomenal growth of air transport in Hong Kong has outpaced all projections taken in the early ’90s. If Hong Kong wants to continue to gain the economic benefits of a growing aviation industry, a third runway will be needed,” said Bisignani.
Earlier this week, IATA announced its traffic growth forecast for 2010 to 2014. It expects the Hong Kong market to grow by 6.7 per cent annually from 45 million international passengers in 2009 to 62.2 million in 2014, becoming the 10th largest market for international travel.
– See Tourism Data
