TRANSPORT
Improvements to the Airport
A number of works to improve the facilities or to increase the capacity of the Hong Kong International Airport passenger terminal building at Kai Tak were completed during the year. These included the rationalisation of an airside restaurant area to provide additional seating and waiting area for passengers in the airside depar- ture hall, and the provision of 37 additional airlines desks for processing transfer passengers.
A new seating lounge was built for arriving group passengers, the arrival baggage- handling facility was expanded to provide extra baggage dolly unloading points, and lighting and fire alarm systems in the corridors of the terminal building office block were upgraded. Further improvements are under way, including expansion of the arrival greeting hall, the modification of the outsize baggage-handling facility to provide four additional check-in counters, and the acquisition of an aircraft noise and flight track monitoring system.
All these improvements are aimed at enabling the airport to handle the passenger traffic growth arising from the anticipated increases in runway movements, aircraft size and passenger load factors during the remaining life of Kai Tak.
A computerised check-in counter allocation system was tested and will be commissioned in early 1996. The existing check-in information directory boards are being replaced by large-screen colour television displays. Completion is expected in early 1996.
The first information display system was further upgraded in October 1995 to allow the display of free-format messages, in both Chinese and English, for use during special situations such as tropical cyclone alerts.
In order to meet the airlines' growing demand for airport office accommodation, a project to convert part of the seventh floor of the multi-storey carpark into offices is under way and is scheduled for completion in early 1996.
As part of the air traffic control modernisation programme, obsolescent equipment was replaced and facilities were introduced to improve the standard of service and operating efficiency. A new Directional Finding System was installed in August 1995, a replacement radar was installed at Mt. Parker, and enhancement of the existing Radar Data Processing and Display System was completed in October.
Contracts were also awarded for a new Terminal Area Radar at Tai Mo Shan and replacement equipment for the Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Radio Range and Distance Measuring Equipment at Cheung Chau. Both installations are expected to be commissioned in early 1996.
Construction of an additional exit taxiway at the seaward end of the runway was completed in October. This helps reduce overall runway occupancy time and, coupled with enhancements to the air traffic control system, will allow a small increase in runway capacity.
The Integrated Access Control and Permit Production System was improved in November and now provides automated production of Crew Member Certificates. A scheme to extend the system to cover access control of all staff entrances to the restricted areas is being devised and is due for commissioning in mid-1996.
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