Government Supports Hong Kong's Airport City Development Plans

(31 Oct 2021) A series of projects at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) are being implemented progressively as part of the “Airport City” development, a blueprint which entails an investment of over HK$40 billion in the 10 years to 2030.

Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, said, “We are very glad that the HKSAR Government supports the development of Airport City, which aims to fully capitalise on the unique geographical advantage of HKIA and capture opportunities arising from new infrastructures. The core functions of the airport and related industries are organically and seamlessly integrated into the fabric of the Airport City, unleashing a strong synergy. The various mid and long-term developments in our blueprint will strengthen HKIA as an international aviation hub and create a new landmark for Hong Kong.”

The Airport Authority has been continuously enhancing airport facilities at HKIA. Ongoing works include the refurbishment of boarding gates and other facilities in the terminal; construction of the “Sky Bridge” to connect Terminal 1 and North Satellite Concourse; and leveraging technology to enhance passenger services. Smart airport initiatives such as e-Security Gates and e-Boarding Gates, “HKG My Flight” mobile application, and deploying robots in the terminal enrich passenger experience. Meanwhile, the 5G infrastructure and digital apron management system will further improve operational efficiency.

Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities

The Airport Authority's proposals for the development of the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF) Island of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) focus on enhancing HKIA’s services and development as part of the Airport City strategy.

The Government has accepted the Airport Authority’s plan to develop automated car parks on the HKBCF Island that will provide around 6,000 parking spaces in phases. The “Park and Fly” and “Park and Visit” carparks will cater to air transfer passengers and visitors respectively. “Park and Fly” passengers will transfer to HKIA boarding gates directly from the HKBCF restricted area, facilitated by a bonded vehicular bridge connected to the airport’s Intermodal Transfer Terminal, without having to go through immigration procedures in Hong Kong; while “Park and Visit” visitors may go from HKBCF to SKYCITY or to other parts of Hong Kong on “Airport City Link”, a vehicular and pedestrian bridge.

The Airport Authority plans to introduce an autonomous transportation system on the Airport City Link to connect HKBCF Island and SKYCITY, and extend the system to Tung Chung town centre.

There are also plans to develop a new campus and dormitory of the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy on the HKBCF Island, while land parcels have been reserved for future air cargo developments.

SKYCITY and AWE Phase II Development

SKYCITY is an integral part of the Airport City development, of which, “11 SKIES” developed by New World Development, will be Hong Kong’s largest integrated complex for retail, dining and entertainment facilities.

11 SKIES will be completed in phases from 2022 to 2025, introducing over 800 shops with more than 120 dining concepts and Hong Kong’s largest indoor entertainment area. There will also be three Grade A office buildings. Regal Hotels International’s Regala Skycity Hotel will be completed next year, providing around 1,200 rooms.

Phase II development of AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) will house the largest indoor performance venue in Hong Kong which accommodates 20,000 people. Upon completion the total gross floor area of AWE’s exhibition facilities will increase to 100,000 square metres.

In addition, more hotels and office buildings are planned to be developed in SKYCITY in the future.

Air Cargo Development

HKIA has, since 2010, been ranked as the world’s busiest international cargo airport for 10 consecutive years and the Airport Authority is taking forward intermodal cargo initiatives to consolidate its leadership position.

The Airport Authority is planning to set up a HKIA Logistics Park in Dongguan and an airside intermodal cargo handling facility at HKIA, with a view to creating a brand new mode of cargo business, increasing cargo handling volume at HKIA, and serving as a growth engine for the industry.

With the new facilities in operation, customs clearance, security screening, palletisation, cargo acceptance and other services for Mainland exports could be completed in Dongguan before shipping the goods to the cargo handling facility in the restricted area of HKIA by sea, for air transshipment to worldwide destinations. For imports to the Mainland, Hong Kong clearance procedures would not be required as the goods could be directly shipped from the HKIA restricted area to Dongguan. The procedures will comply with Hong Kong’s air cargo security regulations. Next year a pilot scheme will trial the operations between Hong Kong and Dongguan.

Meanwhile, the strategy to develop the high-value, high-growth logistics segments continues, covering temperature-controlled cargo such as medicine and vaccines, and e-commerce.

A premium logistics centre at the airport is being developed by a joint venture led by Cainiao Network, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, which is expected to add 1.7 million tonnes of cargo volume to HKIA each year.

Meanwhile, the expansion of DHL’s Central Asia Hub is expected to increase its capacity by 50% to 1.06 million tonnes.

Strengthen Collaboration with Zhuhai Airport

The commissioning of the HZMB has significantly shortened the distance between HKIA and Zhuhai Airport. The two airports have agreed to explore deeper collaboration and formulate long-term development plans to complement each other’s strengths.

The Airport Authority’s proposed injection of equity into Zhuhai Airport is expected to pave the way for long-term and extensive collaboration between the two airports.

Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the Airport Authority, remarked, “Our goal is not only to complement each other on the basis of our existing flight networks, but set sight on over 160 airports in the Mainland which have no international border facilities, and over 130 new airports under construction. We aim to attract passengers from those markets to Zhuhai Airport, and onward to HKIA via HZMB for international air travels. This is an enormous potential source of passengers. In parallel, strengthening collaboration with Zhuhai will extend our air cargo services to the broader inland markets. These new sources of business will benefit our business partners, in particular the airlines and logistics industry.”

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