XN000022-1980-10-07 — Page 3

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1980

ON THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AIR CARGO HANDLING BUSINESS, MR KEEP RECALLED THAT WHEN THE EXISTING TERMINAL BUILDING WAS OPENED IT WAS POSSIBLE TO RETURN TO ITS ORIGINAL USE THE CARGO TERMINAL WHICH HAD BEEN BUILT IN 1960, AND OPENED INITIALLY AS A TEMPORARY PASSENGER TERMINAL.

*BY 1966 WẸ WERE ALREADY IN THE FIRST STAGES OF PLANNING A MAJOR INTEGRATED TERMINAL DEVELOPMENT. THIS TERMINAL SAW COMPLETION IN 1976 WITH THE OPENING OF THE HONG KONG AIR CARGO TERMINALS LIMITED BUILDING OVER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AIRPORT, HE SAID.

THIS TERMINAL, MR KEEP ADDED, IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST SINGLE BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD DEVOTED TO AIR CARGO AND

INTEGRATION OF ALL AIR CARGO HANDLING UNDER ONE ROOF AND HAS ACHIEVED CONSIDERABLE ECONOMIES IN SCALE AND EFFICIENCY.

HE ALSO NOTED THAT WHEN THE FORMER GOVERNOR, SIR ROBERT BLACK, OPENED THE TERMINAL BUILDING IN 1962 THE PASSENGER TRAFFIC THROUGH THE HONG KONG AIRPORT AMOUNTED TO A LITTLE OVER 600 000 PASSENGERS A YEAR.

+AT THE END OF THE LAST FINANCIAL YEAR THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS WE HAD HANDLED FOR THE 12 MONTHS PERIOD WAS 6 300 000, AN INCREASE OF 10 TIMES WHICH OVER THE PERIOD IS AN AVERAGE OF NEARLY 14 PER CENT PER ANNUM, HE SAID.

HE POINTED OUT THE FACT THAT WE HAD NOT ONLY BEEN ABLE TO KEEP PACE WITH THIS GROWTH BUT HAD DONE SO WITHOUT COMPLETELY DISRUPTING THE CONTINUING OPERATIONS OF THE AIRPORT WAS +NO SMALL ACHIEVEMENT+.

MANY OF THE WORKS DONE OVER THE PAST 18 YEARS, MR KEEP CONTINUED, WERE MAJOR ITEMS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, FOR EXAMPLE THE EXTENSION OF THE RUNWAY FROM 2 540.90 TO 3 357.95 METRES WAS A SUBSTANTIAL CIVIL ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT AT A COST OF OVER $200 MILLION.

MR KEEP ALSO PAID TRIBUTE TO MEMBERS OF VARIOUS AVIATION ADVISORY COMMITTEES AND BOARDS, AIRLINE AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, AND OTHERS WHO PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.

MR D.K. NEWBIGGING, MEMBER OF THE AVIATION ADVISORY BOARD,

UNVEILLED A PLAQUE COMMEMORATING THE 1965-1980 DEVELOPMENT OF HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

MR NEWBIGGING SAID THE PHENOMENAL GROWTH IN CIVIL AVIATION, PARTICULARLY DURING THE LAST 15 TEARS, HAD HAD A PROFOUND EFFECT ON HONG KONG.

+ IT HAS HELPED HONG KONG DEVELOP AS A BUSINESS CENTRE AND HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HAS BECOME A CROSS-ROAD FOR BUSINESS AND COMMERCE IN THE FAR EAST, THEREBY ATTRACTING MANY OVERSEAS COMPANIES TO SET UP OPERATIONS HERE AS THE IR REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS,

/+IT HAS

+