Clear the Air says: So do we need a third runway in Hong Kong to handle the dwindling PRD business while China meantime is building more runways at Shenzhen, Chongqing and Guangzhou airports and Beijing is building a new South Beijing airport equipped with 9 runways set to open 2017 ? Then of course there is the small problem of increased PRD landing rights which remain, in the air, since they are controlled by Hong Kong’s competitors in China through the Chinese military. Never mind that Tung Chung already exceeds world air pollution standards before the bridge even starts on this side of the pond.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/20/aircargo-hongkong-idUSL4E7MK03P20111120
HK Oct air cargo falls 8.2 pct, seventh-straight drop
HONG KONG | Sun Nov 20, 2011 1:52am EST
HONG KONG Nov 20 (Reuters) – Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), the world’s busiest air cargo hub, posted on Sunday a seventh-straight monthly decrease in air cargo volume in October, tracking a global trend with trade declining in the United States and Europe.
Air cargo volume totalled 342,000 tonnes, dipping 8.2 percent in October year on year, but the airport handled 4.6 million passenger trips, or a 5.9 percent increase, and recorded 5 percent more aircraft movements.
“While HKIA’s cargo performance is consistent with the worldwide negative growth trend, I’m pleased to see passenger volume and aircraft movements continue to rise,” Stanley Hui, HKIA’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
In the first 10 months of 2011, the Hong Kong airport moved 3.3 million tonnes, down 4.4 percent over the same period last year. On a rolling 12-month basis, cargo volume totalled 4 million tonnes, a decrease of 2.3 percent.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, the world’s largest cargo carrier, last week posted October cargo volumes that dipped 17.5 percent on the year due to continued weak demand in Hong Kong and China.
As Hong Kong’s dominant airline, its cargo flow is a good indicator of export growth in Hong Kong and China, which posted on Nov. 16 its most sluggish expansion in eight months.
But Cathay Pacific expects its cargo volume will return to growth in 2012 as it adds new services. Capacity is seen growing 15 to 18 percent next year, its cargo director said on Thursday. (Reporting by Clement Tan; Editing by Paul Tait)