Hong Kong International Airport

General Information:

Introduction:

It opened for commercial operations in 1998, and is an important regional trans-shipment centre, passenger hub and gateway for destinations in mainland China, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Despite its relatively short history, the airport has won several notable international "Best Airport"

awards, although it lost out to Singapore Changi Airport in the Skytrax "Best airport" award in 2006, having won it from 2001-2005. It is currently given a rating of four stars by Skytrax's airport grading exercise along with five other airports.

Construction of the new airport was only part of the Airport Core Programme, which also involved construction of new road and rail links to the airport, with associated bridges and tunnels, and major land reclamation projects on both Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. The project is the most expensive airport project, according to Guinness World Records. Construction of the new airport was voted as one of the Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th Century at the ConExpo conference in 1999.

On 28 February 2007, the second terminal of the airport opened, with a new Airport Express platform opened serving the new terminal. The terminal also features a new shopping mall SkyPlaza, providing a large variety of shops, restaurants and entertaining facilities.

The airport is operated by the Airport Authority Hong Kong, a statutory body wholly owned by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) is responsible for the provision of air traffic control services, certification of Hong Kong registered aircraft, monitoring of airlines on their compliance with bilateral Air Services Agreements, and the regulation of general civil aviation activities.

of aircraft.

The airport was the third busiest airport for passenger traffic in Asia in 2005, and the world's second busiest airport for cargo traffic in 2005. In terms of international traffic, the airport is the third busiest for passenger traffic and the busiest for cargo since its operation in 1998. There are 85 international airlines providing about 760 scheduled passenger and all-cargo flights each day between Hong Kong and some 150 destinations worldwide. About 76 percent of these flights are operated with wide-bodied jets. There are also an average of approximately 31 non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights each week.

The airport expansion opportunities are subject to variables. A proposal to build a third runway has been under feasibility study and consultation but would be very expensive as it would involve additional reclamation from deep waters.[citation needed] There exists only one airway between Hong Kong and mainland China, as the Chinese military very carefully controls Chinese airspace. This single route is often and easily backed up causing delays in both Hong Kong and mainland China. Finally, China requires that aircraft flying the single air route between Hong Kong and mainland China be at an altitude of least 15,000 feet. Talks are underway to persuade the Chinese military to relax its airspace restriction in view of worsening air traffic congestion at the airport.

the airport express train as well as other public transport services such as buses, coaches, hotel limousines, and taxis. The airport also has a large number of restaurants and shops, catering to the different needs of passengers. It is largely a non-smoking area, apart from designated smoking rooms. Even the lavatories are probably among the world's cleanest and best maintained. The airport also features a driverless people mover system consisting of 3 stations to provide fast transportation from check-in area to gates (and vice versa). These trains travel at 90km/h and the service is provided for free to all passengers and crew. (HKIA Automated People Mover)

The Terminal 2 of the Hong Kong International Airport, together with the Skyplaza, opened on February 28, 2007 along with the opening of the Airport Station's Platform 3. It is used for departures of passengers only with no arrival facilities. So far only Oasis Hong Kong and Emirates have relocated their operation to T2. But several other airlines including Royal Jordanian and Shanghai Airlines are slated to move to the new Terminal shortly. After check in, passengers will get to the gates at Terminal 1 by the underground automated people mover. The SkyPlaza situates in the Terminal 2. It offers over 110 shops and 23 restaurants, and also 4 entertaining sections, including a 4D theater, Aviation Discovery Centre, Asia Hollywood, and i-Sports providing virtual reality sports games.