Operations
| Operations and Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 28,631,000 | 1,628,700 | 163,200 |
| 1999 | 30,394,000 | 1,974,300 | 167,400 |
| 2000 | 33,374,000 | 2,240,600 | 181,900 |
| 2001 | 33,065,000 | 2,074,300 | 196,800 |
| 2002 | 34,313,000 | 1,637,797 | 206,700 |
| 2003 | 27,433,000 | 2,642,100 | 187,500 |
| 2004 | 37,142,000 | 3,093,900 | 237,300 |
| 2005 | 40,740,000 | 3,402,000 | 263,500 |
| 2006 | 44,443,000 | 3,580,000 | 280,000 |
| 2007 | 47,783,000 | 3,742,000 | 295,580 |
| 2008 | 48,582,000 | 3,627,000 | 301,000 |
| 2009 | 45,499,604 | 3,440,581 | 273,505 |
| 2010 | 50,410,819 | 4,112,416 | 306,535 |
| 2011 | 53,909,000 | 3,939,000 | 333,760 |
| Capacity | |||
| 54,000,000 | |||
| 87,000,000 | |||
| Number of destinations | |||
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.
The airport has two parallel runways, both of which are 3800 metres in length and 60 metres wide, enabling them to cater to the next generation of aircraft. The south runway has been given a Category II Precision Approach, while the north runway has the higher Category IIIA rating, which allows pilots to land in only 200 metre visibility. The two runways have an ultimate capacity of over 60 aircraft movements an hour. The Airport is upgrading ATC and runways so that they can handle 68 movements per hour. Normally, the north runway (07L/25R) is for landing passenger planes. The south runway (07R/25L) is for passenger planes taking off and cargo flights due to its proximity to the cargo terminal.
There are 49 frontal stands at the main passenger concourse, 28 remote stands and 25 cargo stands. Five parking bays at the Northwest Concourse are already capable of accommodating the arrivals of the next generation of aircraft. A satellite concourse with 10 frontal stands for narrow body aircraft has been commissioned to the north of the main concourse at the end of 2009, bringing the total number of frontal stands at the airport to 59.
The airport was the third busiest for passenger traffic in Asia in 2010, and the world's busiest airport for cargo traffic in 2010. 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 over 95 international airlines providing about 900 scheduled passenger and all-cargo flights each day between Hong Kong and some 160 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 operation of scheduled air services to and from Hong Kong is facilitated by air services agreements between Hong Kong and other countries. Since the opening of HKIA, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has implemented a policy of progressive liberalisation of air services with the intention of promoting consumer choice and competition. Many low-cost airlines have started various regional routes to compete head-on with full-service carriers on trunk routes.
The airport's long term expansion opportunities are subject to variables. An HKD 80 billion 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, and the building cost of the third runway may be as high as the building cost of the entire airport. On the other hand, there exists only one airway between Hong Kong and mainland China, and this single route is often and easily backed up causing delays on both sides. In addition, China requires that aircraft flying the single air route between Hong Kong and the mainland must be at an altitude of at 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. Other than that, Hong Kong Airport Authority is cooperating with other airports in the area to relieve air traffic and in the future, Shenzhen may act as a regional airport while Hong Kong receives all the international flights.
Read more about this topic: Hong Kong International Airport
Famous quotes containing the word operations:
“Plot, rules, nor even poetry, are not half so great beauties in tragedy or comedy as a just imitation of nature, of character, of the passions and their operations in diversified situations.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“You can’t have operations without screams. Pain and the knife—they’re inseparable.”
—Jean Scott Rogers. Robert Day. Mr. Blount (Frank Pettingell)
“It may seem strange that any road through such a wilderness should be passable, even in winter, when the snow is three or four feet deep, but at that season, wherever lumbering operations are actively carried on, teams are continually passing on the single track, and it becomes as smooth almost as a railway.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)