XN000022-1981-07-04 — Page 3

SATURDAY, JULY 4, 1981

+ONCE THE INITIAL NOVELTY OF FLIGHT BY HELICOPTER MAS WORN OFF. PATRONAGE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE ALMOST SOLELY DEPENDENT ON ITS ABILITY TO COMPETE WITH THE NEXT FASTEST TRANSPORT MODE 1.5. THE JETFOIL. FARE STRUCTURE AND PROGRAMMING OF FLIGHTS WILL BE CRITICAL FACTORS,

*BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL WILL BE ACCESSIBILITY, IN TERMS OF TRAVELLING TIME TO THE HELICOPTER TERMINAL, FOR THE POTENTIAL PASSENGER. IF THE AVERAGE TIME TAKEN TO REACH THE HELIPORT IS GOING TO EXCEED THE AVERAGE TIME TAKEN TO REACH THE JETFOIL TERMINAL BY THE ORDER OF 20 MINUTES OR MORE, THEN THE FORECAST DEMAND FIGURES WILL NO LONGER BE VALID, AND THE SERVICE MAY NOT BE PROFITABLE.+

THE WORKING PARTY THEREFORE FURTHER RECOMMENDS THAT WHILE THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ENCOURAGE PROVISION OF THIS SERVICE BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THIS SUPPORT SHOULD NOT EXTEND TO ANY DIRECT FINANCIAL SUBSIDY OF THE SERVICE NOR ANY SIGNIFICANT EXPENDITURE ON THE PROVISION OF A HELIPORT, AT LEAST UNTIL THE VIABILITY OF THE SERVICE HAS BEEN MORE FULLY INVESTIGATED AND ESTABLISHED.

TURNING TO THE LIKELY DEMAND FOR A HELICOPTER SERVICE BETWEEN CHEK LAP KOK AND HONG KONG IF THE PROPOSED REPLACEMENT AIRPORT IS BUILT AND BECOMES OPERATIONAL BY 1990, THE WORKING PARTY IN ITS REPORT STATES THAT ITS FORECASTS BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF THE REPLACEMENT AIRPORT CONSULTANTS ENGAGED IN 1979 SHOW AN INITIAL DEMAND FOR NEARLY 3 700 PASSENGER SEATS PER DAY. THE PROVISION OF A HELICOPTER SERVICE ON THIS ROUTE IS CONSIDERED TO BE OF CONSIDERABLE BENEFIT TO THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC AND TO THE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE OF THE GOVERNMENT.

THE REPORT STATES: +BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS SERVICE, THE WORKING PARTY RECOMMENDS THAT PLANNING FOR PROVISION OF A CHEK LAP KOK HELICOPTER SERVICE SHOULD FOLLOW THE DECISION TO BUILD AN AIRPORT AT CHEK LAP KOK+.

THE WORKING PARTY DOES NOT CONSIDER THAT THE FUTURE HELICOPTER ACTIVITY WILL CAUSE ANY SIGNIFICANT ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION OTHER THAN NOISE POLLUTION AND RECOMMENDS THAT ANY PROPOSAL FOR A HELICOPTER SERVICE OR LOCATION OF A HELIPORT SHOULD INCLUDE A FULL EVALUATION OF THE NOISE IMPLICATIONS AND IMPACT INVOLVED.

→THE NECESSARY REPORTS AND DETAILED STUDIES SHOULD BE PREPARED BY THE APPLICANT AND INCLUDE DATA FROM SITE INVESTIGATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS FOR EVALUATION BY THE GOVERNMENT TO DETERMINE IF THE SITE IS ACCEPTABLE FOR THE PURPOSE AND, IF SO, WHAT LIMITATIONS SHOULD BE PLACED ON OPERATIONS FROM THE SITE TO ENSURE THAT NOISE POLLUTION IS CONTAINED WITHIN ACCEPTABLE LIMITS AND NOISE NUISANCE IS MINIMISED,+ ADDS THE REPORT.

/TO PERMIT