ENG-1998 — Page 322

TRANSPORT

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well as re-positioning of general purpose and specialised vehicles. In addition, 29 aircraft flew from Kai Tak to the new airport during the overnight changeover period on July 5, 1998.

President Jiang Zemin officiated at the opening ceremony on July 2. Commercial air services at the new airport started on July 6. Despite problems encountered during initial operation, the new airport's service standards improved considerably in the following few weeks. It was quickly comparable with, and in some aspects even better than, Kai Tak. By December 1998, over 76 per cent of the departure flights were leaving on time or within 15 minutes of schedule, and virtually all the rest could leave within 60 minutes. On average, a flight's first bag reached the baggage reclaim hall in 13 minutes.

In response to the problems in the operations of the new HKIA including air cargo handling shortly after the July opening, the government worked with parties concerned to put in place contingency arrangements to enable airlines and the cargo industry to handle as much air cargo as possible. For example, special arrangements were made to enable the old facilities at Kai Tak to be used and to facilitate airlines to operate temporary air cargo services at the Shenzhen Huangtian Airport and Macau International Airport.

Air Traffic Control Services

The changeover of air traffic control (ATC) operations from Kai Tak to the new HKIA on the night of July 5, 1998, was carried out smoothly. Since then, all ATC equipment has been functioning normally and the new ATC Complex has maintained its high standards.

The Civil Aviation Department has continued to maintain close liaison with the civil aviation authorities of the Mainland and Macau, particularly in the development of flight procedures and air traffic control co-ordination arrangements for airports in the Pearl River Delta area. After a series of meetings, two agreements on the detailed ATC operational procedures were concluded and five existing ones were revised. They formed a solid basis for the safe and efficient ATC services for the airports in the Pearl River Delta area, including the new HKIA.

Air Services

The three international airlines based in the HKSAR faced difficulties in 1998, largely because of the economic downturn in Asia which affected the demand for air services in the region.

Cathay Pacific Airways (CPA) improved the efficiency of its fleet by retiring three of its B747-200 'Classic' aircraft and replacing them with 10 new Airbus A330-300, A330-200, A340-300 and Boeing 777-300 aircraft. Facing a decline in yields and load factors on regional routes to the Southeast Asia and Japan, CPA concentrated its expansion of services on its key long-haul routes to London, Los Angeles and Sydney. The airline commenced twice-weekly flights to Istanbul in August and resumed serving San Francisco with a daily non-stop service in December. During the year, CPA became the first airline in the world to operate the B777-300, the world's longest commercial airliner.