Hong Kong airlines push for more late-night and early-morning flights
Airport Authority and Civil Aviation Department back the move, which airlines say could help turn around the tourism slump
Hong Kong’s airlines bidding for more take-off and landing slots have come together to call for the airport’s two runways to be kept open for longer each day to pave the way for more flights.
They say if the move is approved, they could add dozens of new flights within months, slash airfares for Hongkongers and turn around a tourism slump. But at the same time, they warn that without any change, the airport would struggle to add new flights from late this year.
The airport operator and aviation regulator expressed support for the calls.
The Airport Authority said the facility would “likely” reach its yearly limit of 420 000 flight movements late this year, several years ahead of the original forecast.
Airports in the Pearl River Delta and the likes of Singapore and Shanghai could marginalise Hong Kong as its third runway will not open until 2023 at the earliest.
Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, HK Express and Hong Kong Airlines told the Sunday Morning Post they wanted to schedule significantly more flights from 10pm to 1am and 5am to 7am.
The Airport Authority and Civil Aviation Department said they were studying the expansion of night-time flights using two runways to “slightly increase” the number of slots for departing flights and concluding runway maintenance earlier in the morning.
Among options are the offer of cheaper airport charges to encourage airlines to use next-generation jets like the long-haul Airbus A350 or short-haul Airbus A320neo, which are 50 per cent quieter than existing aircraft and therefore more suitable for use during hours when airport operations are restricted by noise legislation.
In a joint statement, the authority and the department said: “This possibility, or any measures to increase the number of flight movements, must be subject to the continued compliance with, among others, the aircraft noise management and environment-related requirements.”
Other measures being assessed include increasing the number of daytime flights by up to five per hour from the current 68 movements.
“We could literally open another 20 destinations in six months,” said Andrew Cowen, CEO of HK Express, who promised that his budget airline could help reverse Hong Kong’s tourism slump.
“We could guarantee an extra million arrivals in Hong Kong to counter a drop in falling visitor numbers ... if we could get more slots.
“Hong Kong cannot afford to be left behind by its rivals and also Hong Kong people want to continue to explore Asia and enjoy access to cost-effective travel,” Cowen said.
Similarly, Cathay Pacific said it was already finding it “more and more difficult” to add new flights at its home airport.
“Adding flights is essential to keep the competitiveness of Hong Kong compared to rival airports. That’s why we want to increase flights when we want to,” said the airline’s director of corporate affairs James Tong.
“When you have abundant supply, lower fares, more and different choices of flight times, potentially more destinations, it’s a big win for the consumer and a win-win situation for everyone involved,” he said.
A Hong Kong Airlines spokeswoman said it supported any plan “to boost runway capacity ahead of the development of a third runway ... which will help to ease the current shortage in runway capacity and is beneficial for strengthening Hong Kong’s status as a premier international aviation hub in the long run.”
