ENG-2016 — Page 278

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Transport

In 2016, 18 new craft, costing $35 million, were built for the government. Twelve new craft building contracts, worth $73 million, were awarded to shipbuilders. The total expenditure in maintaining the Government Dockyard systems and government fleet was close to $560 million.

Air Transport

Hong Kong is a major international and regional aviation centre. At the year end, there were more than 100 airlines providing over 1,100 flights daily between Hong Kong and about 190 destinations worldwide.

Hong Kong International Airport

In 2016, the airport handled 70.5 million passengers, a rise of 2.9 per cent over 2015; 4.52 million tonnes of cargo, up 3.2 per cent; and 411,530 incoming and outgoing flights, up 1.4 per cent.

The airport provides extensive land and sea connections to the PRD region. During the year, its SkyPier recorded 93 daily ferry trips with Guangzhou's Nansha and Lianhuashan, Shenzhen's Shekou and Fuyong, Dongguan's Humen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai's Jiuzhou and Macao's Maritime Ferry Terminal and Taipa. Apart from this, 550 daily scheduled coach trips took passengers between the airport and about 110 PRD cities and towns, and around 580 trips were operated by cross-boundary limousines every day.

Airport Services

The Airport Authority has carried out major facility improvement and expansion projects to cope with air traffic demand in the medium term under the two-runway system. It completed the construction of the Midfield Concourse and its ancillary facilities in late 2015. With the full operation of the Midfield Concourse in March 2016, the airport is able to handle an additional of at least 10 million passengers a year.

Future Development

To maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness as a global and regional aviation hub, the government affirmed the need for a Three-runway System (3RS) in March 2015. The Airport Authority completed the relevant statutory procedures for the project in April 2016 and launched 3RS construction works on 1 August 2016. The construction will take about eight years to complete, according to the Airport Authority, which will self-finance the project, with the cost estimated at around $141.5 billion in money-of-the-day prices.

On the environmental front, the Airport Authority implements various environmental measures as committed in the approved environmental impact assessment report and in compliance with the Environmental Permit conditions, with a view to achieving conservation alongside development. A high-level advisory committee chaired by the Secretary for Transport and Housing provides views on major issues concerning the 3RS and helps the government monitor the Airport Authority's implementation of the project.

When the 3RS is put into operation, the airport's yearly handling capacity will increase from 420,000 air traffic movements to 620,000, enabling it to cope with Hong Kong's long-term air

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