airports T
he Singapore Airlines B747-400 glides into Hong Kong territory, touches down smoothly at the international airport and taxis to the terminal. Seconds after the light goes off to allow passengers to stand up and get their bags, the
gangway is in place and the door is open. “Remarkable,” a Singapore air hostess says, “Nowhere on Earth is as fast as these guys.” Praise indeed from Singapore, one of Hong Kong’s biggest rivals in the transportation field. It is this much-vaunted efficiency, plus its supreme
location within a 4.5 hour flight of 40 percent of the world’s population, that has propelled this former British colony to the premier ranks of aviation, both for passengers and cargo. Nevertheless, Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s leading
cargo hub is coming under intense pressure. A slew of new terminals and runways have opened up across the People’s Republic of China in the past decade, offering alternatives to Hong Kong’s once seemingly unchallengeable position as the premier gateway to the Greater China region. However, before anyone writes off this Special
Administrative Region, two things are worth bearing in mind. Firstly, Hong Kong is still number one, still offering unrivalled services, and has plans for cargo expansion. With an initial construction cost of US$20 billion, the new Hong Kong International airport built on an artificial island at Chep Lap Kok and opened in 1998 is still the most expensive air facility ever built. Secondly, the sheer size of China means there is room
for a second or third or even fourth ‘Hong Kong’ in terms of large airport cargo capacity. Shanghai to Hong Kong, for instance, in European terms is the same distance as from London to Barcelona on the edge of the Mediterranean
Sea. In terms of US geography, Beijing to Hong Kong is the same distance as New York to New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico. This is a country, with the world’s largest population, that is hard to comprehend in terms of size. It stretches from Delhi to Vladivostok and from Ulan Bator to Hanoi.
Major airport cargo throughput figures in 2009 HONG KONG SHANGHAI* BEIJING
GUANGZHOU SHENZHEN
*Pudong and Hongqiao combined Aircraft movements at Hong Kong International airport
in August – the most recent figures available when this feature was written – reached a monthly high of 27,135, up by 14.5 percent from a year ago and setting a new daily average record of 880. During the month, passenger numbers registered year-
on-year growth of 9.2 percent to 4.7 million, while cargo volumes continued to increase by 17 percent to 346,000 metric tonnes. “In August we saw not just robust air traffic, but also strong demand for cross-boundary land and sea transport
3.35 million tons 2.98 million tons 1.48 million tons 0.96 million tons 0.6 million tons
AIR LOGISTICSCHINA 23
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