TNAG-0962-FCO40-1181-Possible-new-airport-for-Hong-Kong-1980 — Page 43

GR 8350

CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG 138581Z SEP

TO IMMEDIATE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE TELEGRAM NUMBER 1173 OF 13 SEPTEMBER, 1980 INFC IMMEDIATE PEKING.

TOP COPY

AKK 182/1

MIPT PARA 1: REPLACEMENT AIRPORT FOR KAI TAK.

FOLLOWING IS TEXT OF PAPER:

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51

16 SEP 1980

DESK OFFICER

REGISTRY

A PROPOSAL THAT HONG KONG'S REPLACEMENT ALAPOD Action Taken

SHOULD BE SITED IN CHINA.

INTRODUCTION

мо

PA

$17.9.

See

THE LATEST FORECASTS INDICATE THAT AIR TRAFFIC,

IF NOT CONSTRAINED, WILL REACH THE CAPACITY OF KAI TAK DURING

CERTAIN HOURS OF THE DAY IN 1984 OR 1985.

2. KAI TAK HAS ONLY ONE RUNWAY, THE APPROACH FROM THE NORTH WEST

IS OVER DENSELY POPULATED KOWLOON. FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS, IT CANNOT BE USED AT NIGHT. IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, THERE IS LITTLE

SCOPE FOR EXPANDING ITS CAPACITY AND NONE FOR EXPANDING IT IN A

WAY THAT WILL MEET THE DEMAND LIKELY IN THE 1990'S.

A REPLACEMENT AIRPORT

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3. NO FINAL DECISION HAS YET BEEN TAKEN ON WHETHER HONG KONG

SHOULD REPLACE KAI TAK WITH AN AIRPORT ON ANOTHER SITE. BUT

PLANNING HAS BEEN PROCEEDING FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. THE INTENTION

IS TO COME TO A DECISION AT THE END OF 1982, .AND IF THE DECISION IS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE, TO LET CONTRACTS

FOR THE FIRST STAGES OF THE ENGINEERING WORK IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER.

4. THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AIRPORT TO REPLACE KAI TAK

ARE THAT IT SHOULD

(A) HAVE TWO RUNWAYS WITH ROOM FOR FURTHER EXPANSION:

(B) BE CAPABLE OF 24-HOURS-A-DAY OPERATION EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR:

(C) HAVE GOOD AND SPEEDY ACCESS TO AND FROM CENTRAL HONG KONG: (D) BE CAPABLE OF HANDLING 25 MILLION PASSENGERS AND 1.2 MILLION

TONNES OF CARGO A YEAR WHEN FULLY DEVELOPED (BASED ON ESTIMATES OF DEMAND IN 1995): AND

(E) MEET ALL INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS AS REGARDS SAFETY OF

OPERATIONS,

5. THE MOST SUITABLE SITE WOULD BE ON RECLAIMED LAND ON THE NORTH OF LANTAO ISLAND (CHEK LAP KOK). THE RUNWAYS WOULD RUN ROUGHLY EAST-WEST AND HAVE APPROACHES OVER WATER. THE COST FOR TWO

CONFIDENTIAL

/ RUNWAYS

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