Airport Authority yesterday unveiled its 20-year ‘HKIA 2025’ plan that envisages a doubling of annual passenger handling capacity at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) from 40m today to 80m in 2025.

The airport is also studying the feasibility of constructing a third runway to maximize existing capacity. ‘With China's growing global economic influence and Hong Kong's increasing integration with China's mainland, HKIA 2025 positions Hong KongInternational Airport as one of the most important gateway hubs of China,’said Airport Authority Chairman Victor Fung. ‘HKIA will continue to contribute to the sustainable growth of Hong Kong and its integration with the Mainland,’ he said.
According to the report, HKIA will continue to participate in the Chinese mainland aviation market, which the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) predicts will approach 1.4bn passenger trips and 30m tonnes of cargo by 2020. The blueprint supports a co-ordinated airport development system in Pearl River Delta, a goal that AA hopes will optimize the supply of valuable resources, including runway capacity and airspace.
The CAAC estimates that by 2020, the five primary civilian airports in the delta areas, namely Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, will likely see a total of 5,000 aircraft movements each day, more than double the current level.