TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1976
AT LEAST $370 MILLION HAS BEEN OR ARE BEING SPENT ON EXPANDING OR IMPROVING THE VARIOUS AIRPORT FACILITIES, INCLUDING THE EXTENSION OF THE RUNWAY AND THE PASSENGER TERMINAL BUILDING, AND THE VISUAL NAVIGATION SYSTEMS.
+ALL THESE IMPROVEMENTS WILL MAXIMISE THE USE WHICH WE CAN GET FROM OUR VERY SUBSTANTIAL AND MODESTLY PROFITABLE INVESTMENT IN THE AIRPORT, HE SAID.
IN 1976, THE AIRPORT IS EXPECTED TO CARRY PASSENGERS NUMERICALLY EQUAL TO THE WHOLE POPULATION OF HONG KONG. UNLESS THERE IS A RETURN TO THE CRISIS DAYS OF 1974, MR. KEEP SAID AIR TRAFFIC COULD BE EXPECTED TO INCREASE STEADILY AGAIN UNTIL REACHING THE PRACTICAL CAPACITY.
TO THIS END, CONSULTANTS WORKING FOR THE CIVIL AVIATION DEPARTMENT HAS ALREADY UNDERTAKEN AN EXTENSIVE STUDY OF THE PRESENT AIRPORT AND THE ALTERNATIVE COURSES AVAILABLE TO HONG KONG, INCLUDING THE FEASIBILITY OF BUILDING A NEW AIRPORT, HE SAID.
+
ON CIVIL AVIATION IN GENERAL, MR. KEEP SAID THERE WAS SCARCELY A CORNER OF THE WORLD WHICH WAS NOT SERVED BY REGULAR AIRLINE SERVICES.
+BUT THE INTERNATIONAL ISM OF AIR TRAVEL GOES FAR BEYOND TERRITORIAL ASPECTS. HOW IS IT THAT CIVIL AVIATION IS ABLE TO FUNCTION WITH THE DEGREE OF RELIABILITY, REGULARITY AND SAFETY WHICH IT HAS ACHIEVED OVER THE YEARS?
+THERE IS NO OTHER TRANSPORT INDUSTRY WHICH IS OPERATED TO THE SAME UNIFORMITY OF HIGH STANDARDS AS CIVIL AVIATION.+
FOR A FEW EXAMPLES, HE SAID AVIATION IS OPERATED UNDER ONE INTERNATIONAL AVIATION LANGUAGE, ONE SET OF RULES OF THE AIR (THE AVIATION HIGHWAY CODE), STANDARDISED NAVIGATION SYSTEMS, STANDARD ISED OPERATION OF AIRCRAFT AND THE LICENSING OF AIRCREW, AND STANDARDISED COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE AVIATION CENTRES OF THE WORLD.
ALL THESE HAD SPRUNG FROM THE SETTING UP IN 1945 OF AN AGENCY OF THE UNITED NATIONS KNOWN AS THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANISATION (ICAO).
THE ORGANISATION COMPRISES 132 MEMBER STATES WHO HAVE AGREED TO ABIDE BY THE CONVENTION ON CIVIL AVIATION, ITS ARTICLES, STANDARDS AND RECOMMENDED PRACTICES.
THE MACHINERY OF ICAO AND THE WILLINGNESS OF ITS MEMBERS TO USE THAT MACHINERY EFFECTIVELY HAD, THEREFORE, BEEN THE BACKBONE OF THE ORDERLY TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION, MR. KEEP ADDED.
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