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Transport
In 2017, 15 new craft costing $47 million were built for the government. Eleven new craft building contracts, worth $257 million, were awarded to shipbuilders. The expenditure in maintaining the Government Dockyard facilities and government fleet was close to $580 million.
Air Transport
Hong Kong is a major international and regional aviation centre. At the year end, there were more than 100 airlines providing over 1,100 flights daily between Hong Kong and about 220 destinations worldwide.
Hong Kong International Airport
In 2017, the airport handled 72.9 million passengers, a rise of 3.3 per cent over 2016; 4.94 million tonnes of cargo, up 9.2 per cent; and 420,659 incoming and outgoing flights, up 2.2 per cent. Together with 112,000 tonnes of airmail handled during the year, the total cargo and airmail throughput of the airport exceeded five million tonnes for the first time.
The airport provides extensive intermodal connections to the PRD region by land and sea. During the year, its SkyPier recorded 90 daily ferry trips with Guangzhou's Nansha and Lianhuashan, Shenzhen's Shekou and Fuyong, Dongguan's Humen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai's Jiuzhou and Macao's Maritime Ferry Terminal and Taipa. Apart from this, 550 daily coach trips took passengers between the airport and about 110 PRD cities and towns, while cross- boundary limousines operated around 580 trips every day.
Airport Services
The Airport Authority carries out facility improvement and expansion projects to cope with air traffic demand in the medium term under the two-runway system. The new Midfield Concourse completed its first full year of operation and now serves over one million passengers each month. The development of the remaining Midfield will be completed in phases by 2020, while Terminal 1 is being expanded.
Apart from infrastructure, the Airport Authority is deploying automation and mobile technologies, such as upgrading the HKG My Flight mobile application, introducing a radio- frequency identification luggage tag and rolling out bag drop self-services to enhance service standards.
Future Development
To maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness as a global and regional aviation hub, the Airport Authority is undertaking a Three-runway System (3RS) project. This comprises formation of some 650 hectares of land north of the existing airport island by reclamation, construction of the third runway and the third runway passenger building, a new automated people mover system, a new high-speed baggage handling system, expansion of Terminal 2 and construction of support infrastructure.
After statutory procedures were completed, the Airport Authority launched 3RS construction works on 1 August 2016, with land formation by reclamation being the first step. The
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