XN000022-1996-04-03 — Page 80

64.

Flight movement capacity of new airport

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Samuel Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Services, Mr Gordon Siu, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

The Government informed this Council recently that, owing to the need to impose a longer time interval between flight movements and the restrictions in China's territorial airspace, the anticipated capacity of the runway of the new airport had been revised to 37/38 flight movements per hour against the previous projection of 43 flight movements per hour. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council what will be the actual increase in flight movement capacity at the new airport after discounting the time needed for regular maintenance and repairs of the runway, as compared to the capacity at the existing airport?

Reply:

Mr President,

The runway capacity of the Hong Kong International Airport at Kai Tak by 1998 is expected to reach about 31 aircraft movements per hour. The daily available capacity will however be affected by noise abatement requirements currently placed on flight scheduling in the early morning and late night hours and the curfew between 1a.m. to 6 a.m.

The declared runway capacity for the new airport at Chek Lap Kok with one runway will be 37/38 aircraft movements per hour although the capacity at airport opening will be lower while air traffic control gains familiarity with the new operation. On the basis of 24 hours' operation and having regard to the fact that the new airport is not situated in the urban area, the daily runway capacity at the new airport is estimated to be about 50% above that of the Kai Tak airport on the assumption that the runway capacity would be reduced by an average of about 5% for daily maintenance requirements based on experience at other airports.

End

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