Experts: Projects will boost HK as aviation hub

Hong Kong International Airport’s (HKIA) proposed third runway and highspeed rail link with the mainland will help make Hong Kong the leading regional aviation hub, experts say.

The Town Planning Board expressed reservations over the two projects, concerned the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link would divert passengers from the soontobeexpanded Chek Lap Kok airport.

Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) Department of Civil and Structural Engineering Associate Professor Hung Wingtat said the rail link would actually encourage more people to choose Hong Kong as their arrival and departure point when heading to the mainland or going overseas.

While rail destinations within a sixhour journey could compete with air travel, short and mediumhaul flights were only a small proportion of total flights in and out of Hong Kong.

Mainlandbound flights account for 24 percent of total passenger flight movements, while shorthaul destinations account for only around 5 percent of mainlandbound flights, according to Airport Authority (AA) statistics.

“HKIA has an advantage in the number of longhaul air routes and the frequency of international flights,” Hung said.

“A highspeed rail link to the mainland would make the city a competitive regional hub. Tourists from the mainland might prefer using Hong Kong airport to connect them to the world and people from elsewhere would also see the city as the gateway to the mainland.”

PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management Associate Dean and Chair Professor Song Haiyan said construction of the third runway would help Hong Kong airport attract more overseas travelers in the long term while the highspeed rail as well as the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge will serve to connect numerous destinations on the mainland.

Song said, “Unlike other hub cities, Hong Kong has only one budget airliner. The biggest limitation is the air port’s capacity,” Song said.

In terms of connectivity, Hung urged the government to improve interchanges to make links between air and rail travel more convenient.

PAUL HILTON / BLOOMBERG Airplanes at Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. Experts say the airport’s third runway and the highspeed rail link will complement each other and strengthen Hong Kong’s position as an international transport hub.