XN000022-1983-07-19 — Page 2

TUESDAY, JULY 19, 1983

AIR CARGO COMPLEX TO BE EXPANDED

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THE AIR CARGO COMPLEX AT HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IS TO BE EXPANDED TO A THROUGHPUT CAPM

J 000 TONNES OF

CARGO ANNUALLY, MAKING IT ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD.

TO FACILITATE THE EXPANSION, AN AREA OF 13 000 SQUARE METRES OF LAND IMMEDIATELY TO THE NORTH-EAST OF THE CARGO TERMINAL HAS BEEN GRANTED TO THE HONG KONG AIR CARGO TERMINALS LTD (HACTL) FOR THE DEVELOPMENT.

IN ADDITION, AN AREA OF 3 900 SQUARE METRES OF LAND HAS BEEN GRANTED TO HACTL BY PRIVATE TREATY FOR A VEHICLE HOLDING AREA.

THE GRANTING OF THE LAND WILL ENABLE THE COMPANY TO EXPAND ITS TERMINAL BUILDING BY ABOUT 32 000 SQUARE METRES IN FLOOR AREA AND PROVIDE ABOUT 4 000 SQUARE METRES FOR ROOMS FOR AIR CARGO HANDLING AGENTS.

HACTL WILL INJECT ABOUT $280 MILLION INTO THIS LARGE-SCALE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT.

A THREE-STORY EXTENSION WILL BE BUILT JOINING UP WITH THE EXISTING CARGO COMPLEX.

A SPECIAL AREA FOR THE HANDLING OF PERISHABLE CARGO AND ANOTHER FOR THE LOADING AND UNLOADING OF PREPACKED CARGO FROM VEHICLES WILL BE PROVIDED.

AN AIR CARGO HOIST FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF AIR CARGO TO AND FROM THE AIRCRAFT PARKED NEARBY WILL BE CONSTRUCTED.

THIS NEW SYSTEM WILL BE ADOPTED AS RECENT RESEARCH INDICATES THAT IT WOULD BE MORE EFFICIENT TO LOAD AND UNLOAD BY THE SIDE-DOORS OF MOST MODERN AIRCRAFT.

WITH THE COMPLETION OF THE DEVELOPMENT IN MARCH NEXT YEAR, HACTL WILL HAVE ADEQUATE THROUGH UT CAPACITY TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE NEXT DECADE.

A TOTAL OF 164 420 TONNES 01 AIR CARGO WAS HANDLED FROM JANUARY TO JUNE THIS YEAR COMPARID WITH 141 108 TONNES FOR THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD LAST YEAR, AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 16 PER

CENT.

A SPOKESMAN FOR HACTL SAID THE GROWTH IN AIR FREIGHT TRAFFIC FOR THE FIRST HALF YEAR HAD BEEN MUCH STRONGER THAN THEIR ORIGINAL FORECAST OF SEVEN PER CENT.

+THIS IS A MOST WELCOME SIGN OF RECOVERY, HE SAID.

+THE PRESENT CAPACITY OF THE AIR CARGO TERMINAL OF 350 000 TONNES A YEAR WILL BE REACHED BEFORE THE END OF THIS YEAR AND THE EXPANSION IS THEREFORE JUST IN TIME TO EASE OUT THE OPERATION OF THE TERMINAL WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE STRESSED, THE SPOKESMAN ADDED.

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