ENG-1993 — Page 304

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TRANSPORT

Air Hong Kong (AHK) continued to operate scheduled all-cargo services to Manchester, Brussels, Nagoya, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore, and non-scheduled cargo services to a number of destinations in Asia, using three B747F and one B707F aircraft. In September, the airline commenced scheduled all-cargo services to Kuala Lumpur.

The year saw the introduction of scheduled air services to Hong Kong by Varig Brazilian Airlines in January, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and British Asia Airways in March, Southern Air Transport in May and Cambodia International Airlines in August. As a result, the number of scheduled airlines serving Hong Kong increased to 55. During the year, these airlines operated about 1 200 direct round-trip services weekly between Hong Kong and some 94 other cities. In addition to the scheduled services, an average of 240 non-scheduled flights were operated by both scheduled and non-scheduled airlines each week.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the process of separating Hong Kong's air services agreements from those of the United Kingdom continued. Two more agreements, with Sri Lanka and Australia respectively, were signed during the year, bringing the total to 10.

In 1993, the Air Transport Licensing Authority granted nine licences to Hong Kong airlines: one to CPA, four to Dragonair and four to AHK. At the end of the year, CPA held licences to operate scheduled services to 63 cities, Dragonair to 60 cities and AHK to =37 cities.