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The department seeks to consult those people living in the vicinity of the airport through the concerned District Boards before any steps are taken to implement them.
A spokesman for the department today (Monday) said it was necessary to put forward the proposals because if it was not possible to increase the capacity of the airport further prior to the opening of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong would forego substantial economic benefits.
The spokesman said in 1993, more than 6.2 million air trips were made by Hong Kong residents and about $390 billion worth of cargo was shipped into and out of Hong Kong by air.
"Of the nearly nine million overseas visitors who came to Hong Kong last year, over 68 per cent travelled through the airport," he said, adding that the total visitor spending amounted to a total of $60 billion contributing to some seven per cent of Hong Kong's Gross Domestic Product.
"The air transportation industry is also a major job provider employing some 25,000 people at the airport and it is believed that the number of people who work for the industry outside the airport is many times more than this figure," the spokesman said.
If the proposed additional capacity can be made available, the department assessed that the Hong Kong economy will benefit from additional visitor spending of the order of $4.3 billion a year.
Furthermore, there would be other direct and indirect benefits which include: an estimated $100 million a year in increased income from additional aircraft landings; an estimated $60 million a year in increased revenue from air passenger departure tax and additional services to the travelling public and increased business and job opportunities.
Under the proposals, the number of programmed aircraft movements between 6.30 am and 7am and between 9 pm and 11.30 pm, currently limited to 18 movements per hour for noise abatement reasons, will be increased by six or 10 movements an hour.
At the same time, the present programming hours at the airport will be extended by one hour from 11.30 pm to 12.30 am, thereby effectively extending the airport's operating hours from midnight to lam.
The spokesman said the new measures would provide an additional 224 programmable slots per week.