XN000022-1977-08-08 — Page 3

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MONDAY, AUGUST 8, 1977

A FOOTBRIDGE WOULD BE ATTACHED TO THE OVERPASS TO ALLOW PEDESTRIANS TO CROSS SAFELY.

HE SAID WORK WOULD BEGIN IN A FEW MONTHS ON THE SOUTHERN APPROACH ROADS ON THE ISLAND ITSELF, BUT THEY WOULD BE TIMED FOR COMPLETION AT THE SAME TIME AS THE BRIDGE AND THE NORTHERN APPROACH ROADS, SO THAT THE WHOLE SCHEME COULD BE OPENED TO TRAFFIC BY MID-1979.

MR. BARDEN SAID THE AP LEI CHAU PROJECT FORMED PART OF THE GOVERNMENT'S PLANS TO DEVELOP THE SOUTHERN PART OF HONG KONG ISLAND,

OTHER IMPORTANT PROJECTS INCLUDED AN INTERCHANGE FOR THE 1.9-KILOMETRE ABERDEEN TUNNEL, BEGINNING AT HAPPY VALLEY WHICH WILL EMERGE AT WONG CHUK HANG.

MR. BARDEN SAID: +BY MID-1980, WHEN BOTH THE AP LEI CHAU BRIDGE AND THE $280 MILLION ABERDEEN TUNNEL ARE COMPLETED, THERE WILL BE A FAST AND DIRECT ROAD LINK FROM AP LEI CHAU TO THE NORTHERN PART OF HONG KONG ISLAND VIA THE ABERDEEN TUNNEL, AND THENCE THROUGH THE CROSS HARBOUR TUNNEL TO KOWLOON AND THE NEW TERRITORIES.+

MORE PEOPLE ARE COMING TO HONG KONG

IN LARGER AIRCRAFT

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PASSENGER TRAFFIC AT KAI TAK FROM APRIL TO JUNE THIS YEAR SHOWED AN INCREASE OF 13.1 PER CENT OVER THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD LAST YEAR DESPITE A DROP OF 2.5 PER CENT IN AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS.

ACCORDING TO STATISTICS PUBLISHED BY THE CIVIL AVIATION DEPARTMENT TODAY, A TOTAL OF 1,198,389 PASSENGERS PASSED THROUGH THE HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN APRIL, MAY AND JUNE COMPARED WITH THE 1,059,587 ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURES DURING THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD IN 1976.

IN THE SAME QUARTER, THE DEPARTMENT RECORDED A TOTAL OF 12,071 INCOMING AND OUTGOING INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS WHILE THE FIGURE FOR THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR STOOD AT 12,385.

THESE FIGURES, WHILE SHOWING THAT MORE VISITORS ARE COMING TO HONG KONG, ALSO REFLECT THE CONTINUING TREND OF INCREASED OPERATION OF WIDE-BODIED AIRCRAFT BY INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES.

AIR CARGO MOVEMENT, AFTER SLACKENING IN THE FIRST QUARTER, SHOWED AN INCREASE OF NEARLY 6 PER CENT, HOWEVER, THE INCREASED AIR CARGO, REACHING 39,095 METRIC TONS, STILL REFLECTED A DECLINE OF 0.05 PER CENT OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

MAIL CARRIED INTO AND OUT OF HONG KONG TOTALLED 1,474 METRIC TONS. THIS WAS AN INCREASE OF 18.7 PER CENT OVER THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD LAST YEAR AND A RISE OF 4.6 PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS QUARTER.