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TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1976
SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN AIR PASSENGERS AND CARGO
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SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN BOTH AIR PASSENGERS AND CARGO HAS BEEN RECORDED AT KAI TAK AIRPORT DURING THE PAST TEN YEARS, THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF CIVIL AVIATION, MR. BRIAN KEEP, SAID TODAY.
ADDRESSING A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE LIONS CLUB OF LION ROCK, HE POINTED OUT THAT THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS HAD QUADRUPLED AND THE AMOUNT OF CARGO HAD INCREASED BY NEARLY TEN TIMES COMPARED WITH THE FIGURES TEN YEARS AGO.
IN THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR, MORE THAN FOUR MILLION PASSENGERS PASSED THROUGH THE AIRPORT, THE LARGEST NUMBER HANDLED IN ANY ONE YEAR SO FAR, WHILE 152 MILLION KILOS OF AIR FREIGHT WERE HANDLED - REPRESENTING INCREASES OF NEARLY TEN PER CENT IN PASSENGERS AND A STAGGERING 46 PER CENT IN CARGO OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
HE NOTED THAT THE ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FIGURES WERE SHOWN BY THE EARNINGS OF THE AIRPORT AT $220 MILLION IN THE LAST FISCAL YEAR, THE TOURIST INDUSTRY AT $3,000 MILLION, NOT TO MENTION THOSE OF THE AIRLINES RELATED TO HONG KONG WHICH PROBABLY AT LEAST EQUAL THOSE OF THE TOURIST INDUSTRY.
ON THE CARGO SIDE, MR. KEEP SAID 25 PER CENT OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND 30 PER CENT OF RE-EXPORTS WERE CARRIED BY AIR, REPRESENTING A TOTAL OF OVER $8,500 MILLION OF TRADING.
THE FACT THAT THE AVIATION INDUSTRY HAD BEEN ABLE TO COPE WITH THESE RATES OF INCREASE, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIELD OF CARGO, WAS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF, HE SAID.
FORTUNATELY, MR. KEEP CONTINUED, THE GROWTH IN THE CARRIAGE OF PASSENGERS AND CARGO HAD NOT HAD TO BE MATCHED BY A SIMILAR GROWTH IN THE NUMBER OF AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS AND, IN FACT, THE TOTAL 1975 MOVEMENTS WAS ONLY 2-1/2 TIMES THOSE OF 1965.
THIS MAINLY RESULTED FROM THE USE OF MORE WIDE-BODIED AIRCRAFT WHICH CARRIED MORE PASSENGERS. IF THE AIRLINE
INDUSTRY HAD NOT ADOPTED LARGER AIRCRAFT BUT CONTINUED TO USE AIRCRAFT OF 1965 VINTAGE, WE WOULD HAVE HAD TO HANDLE SOME 90,000 AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS AT HONG KONG AIRPORT LAST YEAR INSTEAD OF THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF 50,000.+
HOWEVER, WITH A PATTERN OF AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS SIMILAR TO THAT AT PRESENT, HE SAID CONSTRAINTS COULD BE EXPECTED TO APPEAR ABOUT 1984 DUE TO LACK OF CAPACITY.
THE GOVERNMENT, MR. KEEP WENT ON, HAD NOT BEEN INSENSITIVE IN THE PAST TO THE PROBLEMS WHICH COULD ARISE FROM LACK OF AIRPORT CAPACITY. THE IMPORTANCE WHICH IT ATTACHES TO THE CONTINUING EFFICIENCY OF THE AIRPORT AND THE AIR TRANSPORT SYSTEM MAY BE JUDGED FROM THE EXPENDITURE WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR PROJECTS AT THE AIRPORT OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS AND THE COMMITMENTS WHICH IT HAS MADE FOR THE FUTURE.+
/AT LEAST