Hoping to increase Hong Kong’s air capabilities, the Airports Council International (ACI) has released verbal support to build a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

Expecting the extra space to handle the 4.1 percent per annum traffic growth predicted in the region over the next 20 years, the Group’s Asia-Pacific regional director Patti Chau said it was “crucial” the region acted “promptly” to deal with expected demand.

“The airports need to review its development plan with its local authorities and stakeholders to ensure there is enough capacity in its facilities to meet future demands,” Mrs Chau explained.  

She added that the airport needed to concentrate its efforts on long term changes and map out airport development projects according to predicted growth.

“If you look back to 1990 when Hong Kong was planning for a new airport, it was forecasted by 2010 HKIA will handle 45 million passengers but in reality HKIA handled 50 million passengers in 2010,” she highlighted.

“It is therefore important for authorities to have a long-term view in mapping out airport development projects.”

According to local statistics, total passengers traffic in Asia is expected to quadruple by 2029 from 1.2 billion to over four billion with Asia and Pacific region to generate up to 50 percent of all new global passenger demand.