The Aviation Policy and Research Center of the Chinese University of Hong Kong yesterday urged the SAR government to build a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport to help cope with increased traffic and a more competitive market.

Last year the Hong Kong Airport Authority published a long-term plan, HKIA 2025, outlining the future direction for the airport's sustainable growth. The plan proposes to build the third runway parallel to the north one.

The authority, in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Department, appointed a United Kingdom air navigation service provider, NATS, to conduct a study on the airport's capacity. And an initial option to enhance runway capacity was made, an authority official told China Daily.

However, various industries are being consulted, and their comments will be considered before finalizing the study, an authority spokesperson said.

Consultation will be the first phase of the review, and this will be followed by the evaluation of the possible location and configuration of the potential new runway. The two phases are scheduled to be completed in mid 2008, the spokesperson added.

According to the aviation policy study, the airport's runway capacity could max out by 2020. That takes to account the authority's traffic-growth prediction of 3 percent annually at the airport.

However, such a prediction was "conservative" and adopted a 5 percent annual growth rate, which was forecast by the International Civil Aviation Organization. As such, the airport's capacity could be reached by as early as 2014, the center's study said.

Currently, the airport handles 54 flights an hour, while the capacity can reach a maximum of 80 flights an hour, the center estimated.

The research center also said that the proposed linking of the Hong Kong and Shenzhen airports would draw huge tourists from the Pearl River Delta Region to Hong Kong, putting extra pressure on the Hong Kong airport.

The center also said Hong Kong would attract fewer passengers if its airport couldn't handle extra flights. Each flight was valued at HK$450,000, and it is estimated that a fully-utilized third runway would contribute HK$56 billion annually.

"It is important that the airport have sufficient runway capacity to handle the forecasted growth in traffic," an aviation department spokesman told China Daily.

The research center said that once the plans are approved, it could take 12 years to build the new runway.

(HK Edition 12/21/2007 page6)