1990-11-02 05:52 COMMS OFFICE (GOVT HOUSE)
852 845 0995 P.11
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go.
would
There is no doubt however that a constrained airport
severely limit our economic growth and make Hong Kong
attractive as a major centre for trade,
increasingly less
finance and commerce.
11.
I should now like to refer to suggestions that new
airports in Macau and Shenzhen will somehow mean that we
will not need Chek Lap Kok as urgently as we claim.
Dealing first with Macau, we do not see how Macau will, in
the long term, draw away any significant traffic from Hong
Kong. It will have a separate complementary role in the
region of serving Macau and its adjacent Pearl River Delta
It cannot possibly be expected to attract
traffic in any significant volume from an aviation hub the
size of Hong Kong, with the convenience it offers in
a vast network of regional and
hinterland.
providing
connections
international
02
routes. The resistance to routing passengers
to Hong Kong through Macau would be very high.
12.
On the other hand, Huangtian airport in Shenzhen
will undoubtedly have some effect on Hong Kong. It will
potentially fulfil a helpful role in relieving pressure on
Kai Tak when capacity has been reached there and until Chek
Lap Kok opens.
Once Kai Tak becomes severely congested, it
quite possible that mainland traffic coming to Hong Kong
find
is
may
it more convenient to fly to Shenzhen in the
1