| Countries | Cities | Airport Names | IATA | |||||
Airport Search:  |
||||||||
Hong Kong Airport
Airport Directory » Hong Kong, (SAR) China » Hong Kong » Hong Kong AirportHong Kong International Airport (IATA: HKG, ICAO: VHHH) is the independent airport in Hong Kong. It is informally known as Chek Lap Kok Airport (赤鱲角機場), because it was built on the island of Chek Lap Kok by district reclamation, and also to separate it from its predecessor, the closed Kai Tak Airport.
The airport opened for commercial functioning in 1998, replacing Kai Tak, and is an eminent regional trans-shipment center, rider hub and gateway for destinations in Mainland China and the balance of Asia. Despite a comparatively short history, Hong Kong International Airport has won 7 Skytrax World Airport Awards in merely 10 yr.
HKIA also functions 1 of the world's biggest rider depot constructions and functions twenty-four 60 minutes a solar day. It is 1 of the world's busiest airports, particularly in terms of international riders, and also the 2nd busiest airport in the world in terms of freight motilities. In 2008, HKIA dealt 48.6 million riders and 3.63 million short ton of freight. It is the primary hub for Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Hong Kong Express Airways, Hong Kong Airlines, Air Hong Kong (load) and Asia Jet (private).
History
See also: Aviation history of Hong KongNgong Ping Skyrail, Lantau IslandThe airport was built on a mostly unreal island repossessed from Chek Lap Kok and Lam Chau. The 2 former islands that were staged consist approximately 25% of the area of surface of the airport's 12.55 km² platform. It is plugged in to the northern side of Lantau Island near Tung Chung new city. Land reclamation for the airport added about 1% to the totality of Hong Kong's area of surface. It replaced the overcapacitated former Hong Kong International Airport (popularly known by its former name Kai Tak Airport), which was turn up in the Kowloon City area with a individual landing track continuing into Kowloon Bay close to the urban built-up area .
| Operations and Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Passenger motilities | |||
| 1998 | 28,631,000 | 2004 | 37,142,000 |
| 1999 | 30,394,000 | 2005 | 40,740,000 |
| 2000 | 33,374,000 | 2006 | 44,443,000 |
| 2001 | 33,065,000 | 2007 | 47,783,000 |
| 2002 | 34,313,000 | 2008 | 48,582,000 |
| 2003 | 27,433,000 | ||
| Airfreight motions in t | |||
| 1998 | 1,628,700 | 2004 | 3,093,900 |
| 1999 | 1,974,300 | 2005 | 3,402,000 |
| 2000 | 2,240,600 | 2006 | 3,580,000 |
| 2001 | 2,074,300 | 2007 | 3,742,000 |
| 2002 | 1,637,797 | 2008 | 3,627,000 |
| 2003 | 2,642,100 | ||
| Aircraft motilities | |||
| 1998 | 163,200 | 2004 | 237,300 |
| 1999 | 167,400 | 2005 | 263,500 |
| 2000 | 181,900 | 2006 | 280,000 |
| 2001 | 196,800 | 2007 | 295,580 |
| 2002 | 206,700 | 2008 | 301,000 |
| 2003 | 187,500 | ||
| Capacity | |||
| Passenger (current) | 45,000,000 | ||
| Passenger (ultimate) | 87,000,000 | ||
| Cargo (current) | 3m t | ||
| Cargo (ultimate) | 9m t | ||
| Apron (current) | 96 | ||
| Number of destinations | |||
| International (air) | 154 | ||
| International (water) | Six | ||
Construction of the new airport was only division of the Airport Core Programme, which also affected building of new route and rail connections to the airport, with link up spans and burrows, and major district reclamation labors on both Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. The labor is the most expensive airport labor of all time, consorting to Guinness World Records. Construction of the new airport was voted as 1 of the Top ten Construction Achievements of the 20th Century at the ConExpo conference in 1999.
With the airport's depot being 1 of the world's biggest, 1 major come to was if the depot shall be able to hold an intense typhoon. The sides of the depots, which are largely glass, are projected to interrupt during high velocity current of airs to alleviate the force per unit area, letting the depot to stay stand up (Discovery Channel, Extreme Engineering: Building Hong Kong's Airport)
Opened on six July 1998, a hebdomad after than the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport, it took 6 yr and US$20 billion to construct. On that solar day at six:25 a.m., Cathay Pacific's CX889 was the 1st commercial voyage to bring down at the airport, shooting the original CX292 from Rome which was the scheduled 1st reaching. The designers were Foster and Partners. For 3 to 5 calendar month after its opening, it endured various severe organizational, mechanical, and proficient jobs that about stultified the airport. Computer bugs are the independent make of the crisis. At 1 clip, the authority reopened the freight depot at Kai Tak Airport to deal cargo traffic because of a dislocation at the new freight depot, named Super Terminal One (ST1). However, after 6 calendar month the airport set about to function ordinarily.
Officially opened in June 2007, the 2nd airport depot, named T2, (check-in installation only) is connected with the Airport Express Line with a new platform. The depot also characteristics a new centering SkyPlaza, supplying a big assortment of stores and eating house, together with a few amusement installations. T2 also houses a 36-bay bus station for coaches to and from mainland China and 56 air hose check-in counters, as good as usages and in-migration installations.
Besides T2, the SkyCity Nine Eagles Golf Course has been opened in 2007 whereas the 2nd airport hotel, the Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel; and a lasting cross-boundary ferry depot, the SkyPier, are slated to set about functioning in 2008 and 2009 repectively. Development around T2 also includes the AsiaWorld-Expo which has set about functioning in late 2005.
A survey for the HKIA Master Plan 2030 is underway to analyze whether and how bases at HKIA - including airport access, depot and apron installations and a new landing track - should be germinated to back up the economic development of Hong Kong and the district.
In February 2009 a YouTube user uploaded a picture of a woman throwing a irritation fit after losing a Cathay Pacific voyage at Hong Kong International Airport. The picture derived thousands of hits shortly after being posted and derived attending on mass media mercantile establishments throughout the world. In March 2009 Cathay Pacific rationalized as it find out an employee had take the scene; an airline representative stated that a non-employee posted the picture to YouTube and that the employee who take the scene was conditioned. The picture got the second-most reckoned picture on YouTube during a 4 hebdomad traverse finish in five March 2009 and had over 5 million hits.
Operations
The airport control tower, as see from a districting planeThe airport is functioned by the Airport Authority Hong Kong, a statutory organic structure all owned by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Civil Aviation Department (CAD) is responsible for the proviso of air traffic command services, enfranchisement of Hong Kong registered aircraft, supervising of air hose on their conformity with bilateral Air Services Agreements, and the ordinance of general general aviation actions.
The airport has 2 parallel landing track, both of which are 3800 meters in length and 60 m broad, enabling them to provide to the next contemporaries of aircraft. The southward landing track has been given a Category II Precision Approach, while the northward landing track has the higher Category IIIA value, which lets airplane pilots to bring down in only 200 meter visibleness. The 2 landing track have an ultimate capacity of over 60 aircraft motions an 60 minute. At present there are 49 frontage stand up, 28 distant stand up and 25 load stand up. Five parkland embayments at the Northwest Concourse are already capable of adapting the reaches of the next contemporaries of aircraft. A artificial satellite concourse with ten frontage stands for narrow organic structure aircraft is under building to the northward of the independent concourse for committee by the finish of 2009, conveying the aggregative figure of frontage stand up at the airport to 59.
The airport was the 3rd busiest airport for rider traffic in Asia in 2005, and the world's 2nd busiest airport for freight traffic in 2005. In terms of international traffic, the airport is the 3rd busiest for rider traffic and the busiest for load since its functioning in 1998. There are 85 international air hose furnishing approximately 800 scheduled rider and all-cargo voyages each solar day between Hong Kong and some 150 destinations in the world. About 76 percentage of these voyages are functioned with wide-bodied jet plane. There are also an mean of about 31 non-scheduled rider and shipment voyages each hebdomad.
The functioning of scheduled air services to and from Hong Kong is alleviated by air services understandings between Hong Kong and other lands. Since the opening of HKIA, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has implemented a policy of continuous tense relaxation of air services with the aim of furthering consumer pick and competition. Many low-cost air hose have set out various regional paths to contend head-on with full-service bearers on trunk lines.
The airport's long term enlargement chances are theme to variables. A proposal to construct a 3rd landing track has been under feasibleness survey and consultation but shall be real expensive as it would affect additional reclamation from deep waters, and the construction cost of the 3rd landing track may be as high as the construction cost of the entire airport. On the other mitt, there is only 1 air duct between Hong Kong and mainland China, and this individual path is frequently and easy maintain doing hold up on both sides. Finally, China claims that aircraft winging the individual air path between Hong Kong and the mainland moldiness be at an height of smallest 15,000 human foot. Talks are underway to carry the Chinese armed forces to slow down its air space limitation in position of declining air traffic over-crowding at the airport.
Air traffic
Original article.
Kai Tak Airport (Chinese: 啟德機場) was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. It was officially known as the Hong Kong International Airport (Chinese: 香港國際機場) from 1954 to July 6, 1998, when it was closed was replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok. It is frequently known as Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport (Chinese: 香港啟德國際機場) or just Kai Tak to separate it from its replacement which is frequently bring up to as Chek Lap Kok Airport (赤鱲角機場).
The airport was place to Hong Kong's international bearer Cathay Pacific, as good as regional bearer Dragonair, cargo air hose Air Hong Kong and Hong Kong Airways. With numerous skyscrapers and mountains turn up to the northward and its only landing track project into Victoria Harbour, landings at the airport were infamously hard.
Geographic environment
Kai Tak was turn up on the northward side of Kowloon Bay in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The neck of the woods is border by rugged mountains. Less than ten kilometre to the northward and nor'-east is a bush of hills attaining an height of 2,000 foot (610 m). To the east of the landing track, the hills are small than five kilometer off. Immediately to the southward of the airport is the Victoria Harbour, and further southward is Hong Kong Island with hills up to 2,100 foot (640 m).
When Kai Tak closed there was only 1 landing track in use, amounted 13/31 orientated southeastward/northwest (134/314 levels true, 136/316 levels magnetic). The landing track was do by repossessing district from the harbor and had been continued several clips since its initial building. The landing track was 3,390 m long when the airport closed.
At the northern finish of the landing track, constructions up to six narrations arose merely across the route. The other 3 sides of the landing track were border by the Victoria Harbour. The low height manoeuver claimed to line up with the landing track was so spectacular that some riders have demanded to have witnessed the quivering of videos through flat windows as their aircraft draw close the airport's districting strip.
History
1920s to 1930s
The tale of Kai Tak set about in 1922 when 2 man of affairs Ho Kai and Au Tak characteristic the Kai Tak Investment Company in say to repossess district in Kowloon for development. The district was get by the authority for use as an field after the business program neglected.
In 1924 Harry Abbott opened The Abbott School of Aviation on the piece of district. Soon, it went a little grass strip airport for the RAF and several winging baseball clubs which, over clip, turned to include The Hong Kong Flying Club, The Far East Flying Training School, and The Aero Club of Hong Kong which be currently as an merger known as The Hong Kong Aviation Club. In 1928, a concrete ways was made for hydroplanes that used the marching Kowloon Bay which is able to be seen in old pictures. The 1st control tower and depot at Kai Tak were built in 1935. In 1936, the 1st domestic air hose in Hong Kong was constituted.
World War II
Hong Kong fell into the mitts of the Japanese in 1941 during World War II. In 1942 the Japanese armed forces spread out Kai Tak, using many Allied prisoner-of-war (POW) jacks, making 2 concrete landing track, 13/31 and 07/25. Numerous POW journal entries be call up the grueling work and long 60 minutes working on construction Kai Tak. During the function, its building destruct the historic wall of the Kowloon Walled City, as good as the 45 m (148 foot) tall Sung Wong Toi — a commemoration for the last Song dynasty emperor, for stuffs. A 2001 Environmental Study urged a new commemoration be put up for the Sung Wong Toi stone and other leftovers of the Kowloon area before Kai Tak.
1940s to 1970s
From September 1945 to August 1946 it was a Royal Navy shore ground "HMS Nabcatcher" the name antecedently attached to a Mobile Naval Air Base for the Fleet Air Arm. On one April 1947 a Royal Navy air station HMS Flycatcher was commissioned there.
An functionary programme to modify Kai Tak to a modern airport was let go in 1954. In 1957, the original landing track were replaced by a new NW/SE caput 2194 m landing track continuing into the Kowloon Bay finished by district reclamation. The landing track was continued to 2529 m in 1970 and once again to 3390 m in 1975. In 1962, the rider depot was finished.
An Instrument Guidance System (IGS) was set up in 1974 to help districting on landing track 13. Utilization of the airport under adverse statuses was greatly increased.
Overcrowding in the 1980s and 1990s
The development of Hong Kong also lay a reach on the airport's capacity. Its employment was close to, and for some clip, surpassed the projected capacity. The airport was projected to deal 24 million riders per yr but in 1996, Kai Tak dealt 29.5 million riders, plus 1.56 million metric ton of cargo, surviving the 3rd busiest airport in the world in terms of international rider traffic, and 1st in terms of international freight throughput. Moreover, the clearance demands for aircraft takeoffs and landings made it necessary for a boundary on the tallness of the constructions that is able to be built in Kowloon to be applied. While Kai Tak was ab initio turn up far off from residential area , the enlargement of both residential area and the airport ensued in Kai Tak being in close propinquity to residential area . This do serious sound pollution for nearby inhabitants. A night curfew from midnight to approximately six:30 in the early morning time also impeded functioning.
As a effect, in the late 1980s, the Hong Kong Government set about hunting for choice places for a new airport in Hong Kong to replace the aging airport. After debating on a figure of places including the southward side of Hong Kong Island the authority make up one's mind to construct the airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok off Lantau Island. A huge figure of resources were summoned to make this new airport, division of the 10 programs in Hong Kong's Airport Core Programme.
Closure and Legacy of Kai Tak Airport
The new airport was officially opened on six July 1998; and in a testament to logistic programming, all the essential airport provides and vehicles that were go away in the old airport for functioning (some of the non-essential 1 had already been transported to the new airport) were transported to Chek Lap Kok in 1 early morning time with a individual massive locomote. Kai Tak was later closed, reassigning its ICAO and IATA aerodrome codes to the replacing airport at Chek Lap Kok.
On July 6, 1998 at 01:28, after the last aircraft go away for Chek Lap Kok, Kai Tak was eventually retired as an airport. After 77 yr of breathtaking landings, the final entries do in the control tower log book were simple, short and un-ceremonial:
- The last reaching: Dragonair KA841 from Chongqing (A320-200) district landing track 13 at 23:38
- The last going: Cathay Pacific CX251 to London Heathrow (A340) start from landing track 13 at 00:02
A little observance observing the stop of the airport was maintained inside the control tower after the last voyage start. A little address was given, and the comptroller's last word as he turn off the landing track visible lights were just, "Goodbye Kai Tak, and thank you."
The rider depot was afterwards being used as government office, auto franchises, a travel kart track, snooker, recreational installations, a alleys, auto sales salerooms and a golf bush. Government describes after bring out that Chep Lap Kok airport was not wholly ready to be opened to public despite test maintained. Water provide and sewerage were not set up wholly. Telephones were available but the lines were not linked. The luggage system did not undergo an extensive trouble-shoot and rider luggage as good as freight, much of which was perishable, were lost. The authority make up one's mind to temporarily reactivate Kai Tak's freight depot to minimize the damage do by a software system bug in the new airport's freight care system.
The landing track was used as a locale for Celine Dion's January 25, 1999 concert on her Let's Talk About Love Tour. Between December 2003 and January 2004, the rider depot was pulverised.
Many air power partisans were upset at the demise of Kai Tak because of the unique draw close. As private aviation is not let at Chek Lap Kok (travel to Sek Kong Airfield), some partisans had buttonholed to hold around one kilometre of the Kai Tak landing track for civil aviation, but the suggestion was rejected as the Government had planned to construct a new cruise depot at Kai Tak.
The name Kai Tak is 1 of the names subjected by Hong Kong used in the listing of tropical cyclone names in western northward Pacific Ocean.
Operations
Terminal
The Kai Tak airport dwell of a additive depot construction with a auto parkland attached at the rear. There were 8 entrances attached to the depot construction.
Original article.