TRANSPORT
The AA announced in October that it would extend the 15 per cent reduction in airport landing and parking charges until September 30, 2002. At the start of the year, the AA introduced an incentive arrangement for airlines operating flights to new destinations. Airlines enjoy a 50 per cent rebate on landing charges for the first year on flights they operate to a new destination, and a 25 per cent rebate in the following year.
In October, the AA unveiled its Master Plan 2020 for the long-term development of the HKIA. The Master Plan includes proposals for expansion and enhancement of the passenger terminal building and cargo handling facilities, enhanced inter-modal connectivity for the HKIA, logistics development of services and a commercial project named the 'SkyCity' as well as co-operation with other airports in the Pearl River Delta area. Recognising the fast growth of express cargo throughput, the Master Plan also includes proposals for the development of a dedicated express cargo terminal. Tenders for this project were invited in December.
The Government and the AA will continue to work closely with the airlines and the airport community to strengthen Hong Kong's position as a centre of international and regional aviation, the preferred gateway of China and a world-class logistics. hub.
Air Services
In 2001, the Air Transport Licensing Authority granted five licences: one to Cathay Pacific Airways (CPA), two to Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (HDA) and two to Air Hong Kong (AHK). At the end of the year, CPA held 10 licences to operate scheduled services to 130 destinations, HDA held 11 licences to operate scheduled services to 104 destinations and AHK held seven licences to operate scheduled services to 56 cities.
CPA launched its new scheduled passenger services to Delhi in March, to Riyadh in October and to Sapporo in December. From July to October, the airline's services to some destinations were affected by its pilots' industrial action, necessitating some flights to be cancelled and others to be operated by wet-leased aircraft from other airlines. At the end of the year, CPA operated scheduled services to 46 destinations world-wide.
HDA's services continued to develop during the year. The airline commenced scheduled all-cargo services to Osaka in May and converted its non-scheduled cargo service to Shanghai to scheduled service in June. In addition, it resumed its passenger services to Ningbo in September. Following the delivery of its first purchased freighter in September and the second in October, HDA increased the frequency of its scheduled all-cargo services to Dubai, Amsterdam and Manchester as well as to Shanghai. At the end of the year, HDA operated scheduled services to a total of 29 destinations, including 18 cities in the Mainland.
AHK continued to operate scheduled all-cargo services to Dubai, Brussels, Manchester and Osaka and commenced scheduled all-cargo services to Seoul in May.
At the end of 2001, the fleets of the three airlines were as follows:
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