ENG-1998 — Page 266

• NORTHWEST

The relocation to the new 1 248 hectare site at Chek Lap Kok was conducted in five phases between May 6 and August 5, involving more than 3 000 vehicles and 30 barge movements. These included trucks, container lorries and

special transport vehicles – and 29 aircraft flew from Kai Tak to the new airport during the overnight changeover period on July 5. The first commercial air service landed at Chek Lap Kok at 6.27 am on a very wet day. The HKIA

is one of the world's busiest. Together, the old and new airports saw a total of 27.4 million passengers pass through in 1998 (excluding 1.4 million in transit), and handled 1.64 million tonnes of cargo valued at $597 billion.